Broke South Sudan Cancels Independence Celebrations For Second Year In A Row

South Sudan has cancelled its sixth Independence Day celebration which falls on the 9th of July because the country is broke.

According to the Minister of Information, Michael Makuei, the scarce resources that would have been used to fund the celebration will now be channelled to other more pressing areas.

“We are not celebrating the anniversary of independence because there are people who need the money we would have spent on the celebration,” the Minister told reporters after a cabinet meeting on Friday night.

“The council of ministers decided that rather than using this money for the festivities, we must use it for something else, if that money is available,” he added.

South Sudan is the world's youngest nation, it gained its independence from Sudan in 2011 but has since been rocked by a civil war since with relative peace coming not too long ago. This would be the second year in a row that the country would have to cancel its Independence Day celebrations.