Five security personnel jailed 24 years each for killing petroleum official in Juba

JUBA – A military court sitting at Juba National Prison has sentenced five members of South Sudan’s organised forces to 24 years in prison each for the killing of a senior government official, in a case that has drawn public attention to accountability within the security sector.

Judicial authorities said the five were found guilty over the January murder of Konty Okot P’Ogwaro, the then Director General for Pipeline Affairs at the Ministry of Petroleum. The identities of the convicted personnel were not disclosed. A sixth defendant received a five-year prison sentence.

In addition to the custodial sentences, the court ordered all six individuals to be dismissed from service. It directed them to pay the cost of the weapons used in the crime—an unusual measure aimed at reinforcing responsibility among members of the armed forces.

Brig. Gen. Kwajock Dominic, Director of Moral Orientation in the National Police Service, welcomed the ruling, saying it demonstrates equal application of the law.

Okot was shot and killed along the Custom–Rock City road in Juba when gunmen opened fire on his vehicle, spraying it with bullets. Family sources had earlier indicated that he was trailed prior to the attack, suggesting it may have been a targeted killing.

While authorities initially described the circumstances surrounding the incident as unclear, the Acholi Community described the incident as a targeted assassination and urged national authorities to investigate the attack and bring those responsible to justice swiftly in a January statement obtained by Sudans Post.

The court’s ruling provided the most definitive account yet of responsibility for the high-profile murder.

The sentencing marks one of the rare instances in which members of the organised forces have been prosecuted and handed lengthy prison terms for a violent crime against a senior government official, signalling a potential shift toward greater enforcement of discipline and rule of law within South Sudan’s security institutions.