The issue emerged during the committee’s second meeting on Tuesday, as members discussed preparations for Lagu’s state funeral.
Ambassador John Andruga Duku, the committee’s spokesperson, objected to Eye Radio’s reporting of the burial location and demanded an apology from the broadcaster.
Wol Mapal, the journalist who wrote the report, said Eye Radio, as an institution, would be responsible for apologising if necessary. He defended his description, saying he had referred to the site by the name it is widely known by. He said he would only change the report if presented with an official document showing that the name had been changed.
President Salva Kiir’s Press Secretary, Arek Aldo Ajou Deng, clarified that the entire venue is called the Dr John Garang Mausoleum, not only the structure where Garang is buried.
“The whole venue is called Dr. John Garang Mausoleum not only his burial site,” Deng said.
Eye Radio is being asked to correct the story and apologize or be expelled from reporting State funeral.
Duku disputed that description, maintaining that the area selected for Lagu’s burial is Freedom Square, where South Sudan declared independence on July 9, 2011, and raised its national flag following the declaration.
“We’re not here to fight for the space. We’re here to celebrate life,” Duku said.
“No country declares independence in mausoleum. This ground where flag is not a mausoleum. Mausoleum is there in the corner,” he added, referring to the structure where Garang is buried.
Freedom Square has since served as a venue for national events and official ceremonies. The Dr John Garang Mausoleum structure stands within the wider site. Garang, the founding chairman of the SPLM, died in a helicopter crash in July 2005 and is buried there.
The question of how the location should be identified has also featured in public discussion on social media. Duku cautioned media outlets against reporting on issues circulating on social media.
Lagu is scheduled to be buried east of the Pope Francis Pavilion at the site. President Salva Kiir Mayardit selected the location as part of arrangements for the state funeral.
The funeral programme begins on Wednesday, when Lagu’s body will be taken from the mortuary to the national parliament for public viewing. It will be taken to his family home on Thursday before a requiem Mass at All Saints Cathedral of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan in Mobil on Friday.
Lagu led the Anyanya One movement during Sudan’s first civil war and played a central role in negotiations that produced the 1972 Addis Ababa Agreement, which ended the conflict and granted Southern Sudan regional self-government.
He later served as president of the High Executive Council of the autonomous Southern Region from 1978 to 1979 and as Sudan’s second vice-president from 1982 to 1985. He died in Juba on October 27, 2026, aged 94.
