South Sudanese artists protest to demand justice for singer Tricia C

JUBA – South Sudanese artists and members of civil society took to the streets of Juba this morning to demand justice for the death of Singer Tricia C, a prominent female artist who died from a terrible road accident yesterday.

Singer Tricia died at Juba Teaching Hospital where she was receiving treatment after being knocked down by a water tanker on boda-boda at Mobil roundabout on Monday.

Two people also lost their lives in the same fatal accident which involved a water tanker, boda-boda and several cars.

The protestors gathered at Mobil roundabout, where Singer Tricia was knocked down, with many holding placards and demand for “justice for Sister Tricia C”

They also demand suspension of all foreign water tanker drivers in the country with immediate effect.

One of the protestors, Jame David Kolok, who is a member of civil society, told Sudans Post that they are protesting against corruption of traffic police.

“We continue to see these continuous accidents happening, we continue to see corruption within traffic entities without putting in place mechanisms that will ensure that those coming on the road are worthy to be on the road,” David said.

David called for real reform within the health sector and police.

“We continue to see people being given driving permits, people that don’t qualify to have driving permits. We are asking for justice for our colleague who has died, we are asking for compensation and we are asking for real reform in this country,” he said.

Mannaseh Mathiang from AnaTaban called for change within the health sector which he said is deteriorating on a daily basis.

“We want the Minister of Health to tell us what they have been doing for the past ten years. What have you been doing in ten years? We have money to buy V-8 but you have no money to buy an ambulance. We have money to pay for peace delegates living in hotels within millions of dollars but you have no money to improve the health care system of South Sudan,” Mathiang said.

Wani Michael, another angry protester revealed that people are dying every day from Juba Teaching Hospital due to shortage of drugs.

“I lost my own daughter because of  this useless Juba Teaching Hospital, Tricia C died because of a useless hospital and we have a country rich with oil and enough money coming in everyday,” Michael told Sudans Post.

“We have a country where people drive expensive vehicles everyday and we have teaching that can’t afford to buy medicines for malaria. This must stop. We are not leaving this place until we get answers from the government,” Michael added.