Raging fire has gutted down the building which houses the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement party in Juba.
The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) National Secretariat premises went up in flames with the fire burning all valuable documents including the South Sudanese party’s constitution.
It is not clear what triggered the fire as dark fumes puffed out of the building spread in the skies of Juba’s ministries block over the weekend.
In the wake of the incident, fire fighters tried to intervene and their efforts paid through the success in extinguishing the flames.
Speaking at the scene, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) Deputy Secretary for Information, Jimmy Atilio stated that the main cause of the incident was yet to be identified and that once established the public will be informed.
“At the moment, investigations continue, and so far a number of offices including the main conference hall have all been damaged by the fire,” said Atilio.
The SPLM is a political party in South Sudan, which was initially founded as the political wing of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA; a key belligerent of the Second Sudanese Civil War) in 1983.
On January 9, 2005 the SPLA, the SPLM and the Government of Sudan signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, ending the civil war. SPLM then obtained representation in the Government of Sudan, and was the main constituent of the Government of the then semi-autonomous Southern Sudan.
When South Sudan became a sovereign state on 9 July 2011, SPLM became the ruling party of the new republic.