Chief Simon Soro was born in 1926 in Rokon, a village located 80 km to the north-west of Juba. The son of a prominent chief, in the 1940s he came from Rokon to Juba, which was then a fairly new colonial town. He enrolled in school and growing up, he witnessed first-hand many aspects of … Continued
In 1940, Juba had an official population of about 1,600 people, comprising 57 European Government officials, missionaries, and traders, 132 Northern Sudanese officials and traders, 27 Egyptians, and 1,397 Southern Sudanese “subordinate Govt. employees and local labour,” in the phrase of a military handbook of the time. There were at least 4 private … Continued
Juba was established on a rocky ridge extending east from Jebel Körök (popularly called Jebel Kujur) to a bend in the Bahr al Jebel where it was deep enough for steamer traffic. Unlike many of South Sudan’s towns (Wau, Tonj, Shambe, Meshra-el-Rek, Rumbek, Bor, and so forth), Juba was not a former slaving station that … Continued
Charles Moga started working as a fisherman in the early 1980s and knows one thing for sure: he will “do this work until [he] dies”. He is a son of Juba. Born and raised in what is now the capital of South Sudan, he has never lived anywhere else. He has witnessed the city’s … Continued