President Salva Kiir Mayardit has canceled the planned transfer of Rumbek Senior Secondary School to Rumbek University following a public uproar, the ruling SPLM party said Wednesday.
The decision was reached at a meeting of the SPLM Working Committee, the party’s highest decision-making body, chaired by Kiir.
Speaking after the meeting, SPLM Secretary-General Akol Paul Kordit said the committee resolved to reverse the earlier directive to donate the school to the university.
“The leadership emphasized that the school remains a vital historical landmark and a sanctuary for the children of martyrs who sacrificed their lives during the liberation struggle,” he said.
Kordit added that the Ministry of Higher Education has been directed to mobilize funds to develop a new campus on land recently allocated by the Rumbek community, allowing the university to expand without affecting the school.
He said the leadership affirmed that Rumbek Senior Secondary School will remain an independent institution and “must not be tampered with.”
The dispute followed remarks by Vice President Hussein Abdelbagi Akol in Rumbek that Kiir had approved donating the school premises to the university, triggering concern among sections of the local community.
Rumbek Secondary School, established in 1948 during the Anglo-Egyptian colonial period, is one of the oldest secondary schools in present-day South Sudan and has educated generations of political, military and professional leaders.
The proposed transfer had sparked public backlash.
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