South Sudan church mourns murdered youth coordinator

The Episcopal Church of South Sudan's national youth cooordinator has been killed by gunmen who targeted his vehicle.

Joseph Kiri died instantly after he was shot in the chest as his vehicle was sprayed with bullets, according to the executive director of the charity for which he also worked, Across. Elisama Wani Daniel said his driver escaped and ran to a nearby army post, from where soldiers recovered Kiri's body.

Thousands of young people gathered at Kiri's house on Monday to pay their respects, ACNS reported.

The Primate of South Sudan, Archbishop Justin Badi Arama, tweeted that he and his wife Mama Joyce were 'deeply saddened to hear of the passing of the Provincial Youth Coordinator, Joseph Kiri, in an ambush on Lainya – Yei road yesterday. Our prayers are with his family. We ask all parties to respect the ceasefire.'

The Episcopal Church's provincial secretary, John Augustino Lumori, described Kiri as 'a talented, sound and vibrant youth' and said his death was 'a very big loss to the entire Episcopal Church of South Sudan'.

South Sudan has suffered years of civil war which has left the infrastructure in ruins and terrorised the civilisan population. Around 2.5 million fled to neighbouring countries but are now starting to return after a preliminary peace deal between President Salva Kiir's government and rebels led by his former deputy, Riek Machar, was signed in August.

While the deal appears to be holding, there is still widespread violence and insecurity.

Archbishop Arama told ACNS earlier this week that peace was possible but that it needed to be expressed in truth, reconciliation and forgiveness. 'We very much welcome the recent developments in the signing of the agreements in Khartoum,' he said. 'But as a Church, we believe that peace is not something on paper. Peace is a practical reality on the ground, which does not just come with the signing of papers.'