The killing of South Sudanese lawmaker Luka Mathen Toupiny Luk in the heart of Juba is not just a crime; it is a proof of a collapsing state that can no longer protect even its own officials.
Mathen, 36, a Member of the Council of States, was shot dead near his home in the Gudele neighborhood at around 10pm on Saturday, according to family members and colleagues. Police later confirmed two arrests but offered no details, citing ongoing investigations.
The Acting Speaker of the Council of States, Mary Ayen Majok, called the murder a “major loss” and urged security agencies to fast-track investigations and bring the perpetrators to justice.
South Sudanese have heard this before: Condolence statements appear quickly. Arrests are announced vaguely. Then silence follows. Justice stalls. Impunity survives.
If a parliamentarian can be gunned down in the capital city, one question towers above the rest: If government officials are not safe, who is?
But there is an even more uncomfortable truth. The South Sudanese state seems to grieve only when politicians die.
Every day, civilians die unnoticed. Children succumb to preventable diseases. Women bleed to death during childbirth in clinics without basic supplies. Persons with disabilities are abandoned to poverty and neglect. Unborn children die before seeing daylight. Others are killed in armed clashes that flare up and fade away without accountability.
No official statements follow. No flags are lowered. No leaders rush to microphones. Yet when a member of the political class dies, condolences pour in. Financial support flows to families. Motorcades roll. Speeches praise “service,” even for officials who spent years looting public funds while the country collapsed around them.
This selective mourning reveals a brutal hierarchy of human worth. In today’s South Sudan, power is precious. Ordinary life is cheap.
Mathen represented Cueibet County in Lakes State in the Council of States and chaired its committee on education, science, research, and technology. He was a member of the United Sudan African Party, part of the Other Political Parties coalition under the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement.
His killing is not an isolated incident. It is a warning. A government that cannot secure its capital, cannot claim legitimacy. A state that only grieves its elites has already abandoned its people. And until investigations lead to real convictions, every South Sudanese walks the same unguarded road Mathen walked that night.
The writer, Stephen Dhieu Kuach, is a lawyer, political analyst, governance expert, and a disability rights advocate. He can be reached via email: dr.stephen.dhieu@gmail.com
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