Ten most influential people in South Sudan

Influential South Sudanese. South Sudan just celebrated its first independence anniversary, Monday July 9, after it separated from Sudan last year. Over the period, a lot has happened: Some quarrels with the Sudan over oil, currencies and boundaries. Construction is also booming with new institutions popping up in Juba. On the flipside, rebels and tribal outfits also want a share of the national cake, complicating the national equation. There is also the country’s on-going public show featuring suspected corruption officials, who recently received letter from President Salva Kiir, has become a major hit. These, among others, are incidents shaped by the different actors starring in the country’s social, political and economic fronts. As the country celebrated its first anniversary, we put pen to paper and here is the list of what we are calling Africa Review’s list of most influential South Sudanese:

1.Salva Kiir
He is the chairman of the ruling party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of South Sudan.
A year into his administration, he has attempted to prove his critics wrong. He succeeded South Sudan hero Dr John Garang de Mabior, who was killed in a helicopter in July 2005, barely six months after signing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that led to formal independence in July last year.
During the war, he became the second in command to Dr John Garang. The army loved him.
It is his endurance, tolerance and forgiveness that is seen as glue that keeps the country united As a result, Kiir won the ABETO ward last year. However, Kiir is also seen as a reluctant leader who would prefer to have his hands off in controversial matters.
He was ranked among the top 100 influential Africans in 2011 by the London-based New African magazine together with those of Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, late Prof. Wangari Mathaai, writer Chinua Achebe, Koffi Anan, among others.

2. Pagan Amum Okiech
He was a senior leader in the military during the war and was active in the political wing of the then rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army.
He was among the key negotiators of the historic CPA that granted the right to self-determination for the people of South Sudan, which later culminated into formal independence last July, after a landslide vote for secession earlier in January.
Pagan was also Minister for Cabinet Affairs in Khartoum before he felt out with President Bashir for referring to Sudan as a “failed and corrupt state.”
In 2009, he led a demonstration at Khartoum national assembly to pass the referendum law that Bashir’s party had decided to sit on, in a bid to curtail the plebiscite.
Currently, he is the South Sudan’s lead negotiator in the African Union-led talks with Sudan on post-independence issues, including the demarcation of borders, the status of the disputed Abyei region, oil transit fee, and citizenship, among others

3.Rabecca Nyandeng de Mabior
She is the widow of late Dr John Garang, former Minister of Roads in the Government of National Unity in Khartoum ahead of independence, and currently the Presidential Advisor on Human Rights.
She has also positioned herself as the advocate for late Garang’s vision of taking towns to the people. Although she would turn emotional at times over the current state of affairs, Nyandeng has been reaching out to the hearts of many in her campaigns for the orphans, widows, war heroes and heroines and the delivery of basic services.
She is innovative and enterprising. So far, she has set up Dr John Garang International School. She also owns Akok Hotel along the Nile River in Juba, various shops and saloons. She is famously called ‘Mama Rabecca’ for being seen as the mother of the new nation. She also head campaigns to keep Juba clean.

4. Dr Riek Machar Teny, Vice President
He was a senior member of the SPLA and became the leader of the rival faction during the split of the SPLM/A in 1991.
In 1997, Dr Riek signed a soft Khartoum Peace Agreement after failing to secure arms for his rebel faction during the split.
Dr Riek rejoined John Garang in 2002 when the agreement he signed with Khartoum was dishonored.
Today, Dr Riek is the deputy chairman for the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). In 2009, Riek took a low profile from his party when he agreed to a 66.7 per cent threshold for secession in the referendum. He was pushed out from leading the negotiation team and was replaced by Pagan Amum.
Dr Riek has been named in numerous controversial matters, including running parallel to decisions passed by the Council of Ministers in which he is the deputy chair, most notably rooting for his own version of the constitution in 2011 which he tabled to parliament. In some instances, he was accused of running “a government within a government.” His influence was at stake when the Lou-Nuer marched in his face in Likwangole in Pibor, Jonglei state, to kill thousands of the rival Murle tribe in December last year. Dr Riek also admitted responsibility for the deaths and abuses of human rights when the 1991 split turned into a tribal rivalry.

5. James Wani Igga, National Assembly Speaker
He was a diehard of the SPLM/A during the war and is currently ruling SPLM party vice chairman. He commands loyalty from MPs as the House speaker since 2005 but has never been associated with serious controversial matters related to power struggle.
Seen as a humble politician, Wani has vast outreach skills, and because of this, he headed mobilisation teams for his party during the 2010 general elections and the 2011 referendum, both of which the party won comfortably. As it stands, Igga is the beacon for Greater Equatoria. He has forged close ties with the youth wing of his party.

6. Dr Lam Akol
He was a senior member of the then rebel SPLA and was active in the diplomatic front. He was seen as the key architect of the split within the then rebel SPLM/A in 1991 with the aim of ousting the then chairman and commander in-chief late Dr John Garang.
He later took a central role in the split of the same faction opposed to Dr Garang and later defected to Khartoum, where he hoped from one party to another before rejoining John Garang in 2003, just two years to the landmark peace deal.
Dr Lam became the first South Sudanese Foreign Minister in Khartoum on the SPLM ticket, but he was later sacked from the position after he allegedly moved astray from the party principles and objectives.
He defected again in 2009 and launched the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement for Democratic Change (SPLM-DC).
He is widely seen as an intelligent brain and strategist.
However, Dr Lam is equally viewed as too flexible character that prefers not to directly confront tough endeavours.
From his book The Nasir Declaration, he appears a softie, who would rather persue the easier things in life, as opposed to confronting challenges.
Dr Lam lost elections to President Salva Kiir in 2010 by a wide margin.

7. Kuol Manyang Juuk
He was one of the senior commanders of the movement before the country’s peace deal was signed in 2005. He became Minister for Transport in Khartoum before he was appointed as Jonglei State governor in 2008. Kuol won 2010 general elections on his ruling SPLM ticket to maintain his seat, beating by a wide margin the late rebel leader George Athor Deng, who contested as an independent candidate.
Since then, Kuol has endeared himself to the youth as the leader who shaped their future after mobilising them in the mid-1980s to walk to refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya to go for studies.
When Dr Garang died in 2005, it was unclear who would replace him, with Dr Riek Machar and Dr Lam Akol angling for the job. Kuol broke the ice in the meeting room in New Site, Equatoria State, by nominating Salva Kiir, citing his resolute commitment to the liberation struggle, to become the heir. Today, Kuol remains the President’s right hand man.

8. Rebecca Nyandeng Malek Delich
She worked with humanitarian aid agencies during the war. After the 2005 peace agreement, Malek held various ministerial portfolios in the Warrap State government.
In 2010, she won the trust of the ruling SPLM party to contest elections as state governor, winning the race without much challenge.
Ms Malek is a darling of many Sudanese women who has greatly influenced the country’s women movement.
In 2011, Nyandeng triumphed after failure by MPs in the state assembly, who wanted her impeached on charges of lack of development plan, covering up hunger that had claimed more than 350 returnees and corruption in her government.
Among 10, she is the only South Sudanese woman state governor and the first woman to take over governorship through elections. She remains a role model to many young women.

9. Lt. Gen James Hoth Mai
He was a senior member of the rebel force before peace was signed in 2005. He served in various positions in the army before becoming the Chief of General Staff of the army in 2009. By then, there was spiraling corruption in the army, with soldiers, wounded veterans staging strikes across the country against delayed payment.
Hoth is widely believed to have restored calm and discipline in the army and has seen the salaries of the army doubled since last year.
In his reign, rebel outfits sprang up, tracing their cause to political dissatisfaction, but the rebel groups were either dismantled militarily to force them to sign peace deals with government or their leaders have been arrested. Other rebel leaders have been eliminated.
Across South Sudan, Hoth commands unwavering loyalty and respect from the Armed Forces of South Sudan. He rarely speaks in public but his military strength is widely praised in the army.

10. Emmanuel Kembe, musician
When the war broke out in 1983, he was in Khartoum, where he composed and sang many songs on the need for the freedom of South Sudan. Some of his inspirational songs include Khartoum is sick, a sickness unconfirmed and Bad, Bad. Both songs were banned in Khartoum and anyone found listening to them was subjected to arrest and detention by the authorities in power.
Later, Kembe was arrested before he escaped to Ethiopia, where he met Dr Garang, who went with him to rebel training camps inside South Sudan.
At the training centres, Kembe continued inspiring trainees with his music to fight on. He was seen as “Garang’s musician.”
His peace songs made him an icon for peace. They advocate for unity of the people of South Sudan and against tribalism, power greed and corruption.