The family of Lt General Joseph Lagu announces, with great sadness and deep sorrow, the untimely death of their beloved mother, Mama Amna Lagu in London on Sunday 10th January 2021 at around 16:00 hours GMT.

Mama Amna had been hospitalized since 16th December 2020 having contracted Covid-19. She was treated in a London hospital and received the best possible care available. She developed acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and on 25th December 2020, Christmas Day, she was put on a ventilator. She had significant inflammation in her lungs which made it difficult for her to breathe without the support of a ventilator. The ventilator gave her a 50/50 chance of survival.

Mama Amna was critically sick throughout but had been stable with occasional ups and downs which was expected. Although she had shown signs of improvement initially, over the last few days she began to deteriorate despite the best efforts of the medical and nursing staff looking after her.

Under the circumstances, some of the children were permitted to visit her at the hospital donned in full personal protective equipment (PPE) as per government guidelines. They were at her bedside and praying with her at the time of her passing. Other close family members said goodbye on the telephone held to her ears. May her soul rest in eternal peace.

Once again, the Lagu family would like to thank all family, relatives, friends and the entire Sudanese and South Sudanese communities for their prayers throughout the time Mama Amna was in the hospital. We are overwhelmed by your kind support and good wishes. Mama Amna was a bridge between Sudan and South Sudan.

‘Amuna’ as she was known in South Sudan was one of the torch bearers of General Lagu’s iconic legacy. She was part of our struggle for freedom. She was loved as a mother and adored by our greater community as one of the magnets for our social cohesion. She was indeed a capstone of the towering Lagu political legacy. We will miss her dearly. We will always remember her for her outstanding company, humanity and Grace.

Ordinarily, we would all gather together in share our grief and support one another through this difficult time. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic and the current lockdown measures in the U.K., and contrary to tradition, we must ask family, relatives, friends and the community to remain in their homes and not to visit, please. This is to ensure everyone’s protection and safety. We are very grateful for your support and we urge you to use the telephone and social media to contact the family and convey your messages. When this pandemic is over, we will have the opportunity to celebrate the life of our beloved mother face to face in accordance with our culture and traditions.

For now, the Lagu family would like to reiterate the message we gave out to the community earlier in December 2020.

.Please keep safe. The Covid-19 pandemic has overwhelmed even the most advanced nations in the developed world. No one is safe. Please follow the World Health Organisation’s advice and guidelines as well as the advice and guidelines of your own government.

• If you are in Africa, while outdoor living helps, please take every precaution to keep a safe distance from each other even when outside. Wash hands regularly and avoid shaking hands.

• Take care of our older people and other vulnerable people with underlying health conditions. They may not survive the virus. Even with the best healthcare system in the world, our experience shows that we must be extra vigilant to prevent contracting the virus. We do not want to see other families losing loved ones as we have done.

• We continue to appeal to the international community to roll out the Covid-19 vaccine to developing countries as soon as possible. We urge our people to accept the vaccine if available and if offered. It is the best way to protect our vulnerable people from this devastating pandemic.

Finally, our heartfelt gratitude goes to the heroic doctors and nurses who cared for Mama Amna. We thank all National Health Service (NHS) staff in the UK for their dedication and working tirelessly round the clock to care for our loved ones. We also thank all healthcare workers in Sudan and South Sudan who are working in exceptionally difficult conditions, sometimes without PPE, putting their own lives at risk to care for our people. We owe them all a debt of gratitude.

God bless you all.