Bona Malwal

Bona Malwal (born 1928) is a South Sudanese journalist, politician, and government official known for his advocacy for self-determination and secession for South Sudan. Malwal's early life began in Twic Mayardit County, Bahr El Ghazal, and he belongs to the Dinka ethnic group. He obtained a diploma in journalism from Indiana University in 1963, followed by a bachelor's degree in economics and a Master of Arts in journalism and communications from Columbia University in 1969.

This article is about South Sudanese journalist and politician (born 1928). For Village in India, see Bana Malwala.
Bona Malwal
Born
Bona Malwal Madut Ring

1928 (age 94–95)
Twic State, Bahr El Ghazal, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
EducationIndiana University
Columbia University
Occupation(s)Journalist, Politician
Organization(s)St Antony's College, Oxford
The Vigilant
Political partySouthern Sudan Democratic Forum
Southern Front
Writing career
LanguageEnglish
Juba Arabic
Dinka

In the realm of journalism, Malwal's journey began as an information officer in Wau from 1951 to 1961. He joined the editorial board of Sudan Daily in 1961 and co-founded the Southern Front (SF), becoming editor-in-chief of its mouthpiece, The Vigilant. He subsequently held editorial positions in various newspapers, including Sudanow Magazine, The Sudan Times, and Sudan Democratic Gazette. In academia, he was associated with Columbia University and served as a visiting academic at St. Antony's College, University of Oxford.

Malwal authored many books including "Sudan and South Sudan: From One to Two" in 2015, which considered as his political memoir. He had a political career marked by serving in the Sudanese Parliament, notably during the Nimeiri era. He has also been associated with Omar al-Bashir's government. However, Malwal's political positions have sparked controversies, and his involvement in conflicts and divisive statements, including his views on ethnic groups, has garnered criticism.

Early life and education

Bona Malwal Madut Ring[1] was born in 1928[note 1] in Twic Mayardit County, Bahr El Ghazal, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (today's in South Sudan).[4] He hails from the Dinka ethnic group and is the son of a Gogrial Dinka chief.[5][6] Malwal completed a diploma in journalism from Indiana University in 1963, followed by a bachelor degree in economics and a Master of Arts in journalism and communications both from Columbia University in 1969.[7][2]

Journalistic career

In his early years, He became an information officer in Wau between 1951 and 1961, but then Malwal pursued a career in journalism joining, the government newspaper, Sudan Daily's editorial board in 1961.[2]

Malwal also co-founded and served as the secretary-general of the Southern Front (SF), a political organisation, in 1965. Malwal became the editor-in-chief of the SF mouthpiece, The Vigilant, an English-language newspaper in Sudan.[8][9][10] The journal was founded on 23 March 1965.[9] Publication of The Vigilant was interrupted between July 1965 and January 1966,[9] following the publishing of articles about the massacres in Juba and Wau.[11][12][13] The Vigilant was closed down in May 1969 following Jaafar Nimeiry's 1969 Sudanese coup d'état.[14] In March 1974, he became and editorial board member of Al Sahafa newspaper.[2] He later found and became the editor-in-chief for Sudanow Magazine (1976 to 1978),[2] The Sudan Times (1986-1989)[15] and Sudan Democratic Gazette (1989-2001).[16][17]

Apart from his political engagements, Malwal worked as a senior research fellow at the Columbia University,[18] and senior research fellow (1978-1979)[2] and visiting academic at St. Antony's College, University of Oxford as part of the Sudanese Programme.[19] The Sudanese Programme was co-founded in 2002 by Malwal and Ahmed Al-Shahi within the Middle East Centre and the African Studies Centre at St Antony’s College.[20]

Additionally, among many books, Malwal authored "Sudan and South Sudan: From One to Two," published in 2015,[21] which is regarded as his political memoir and provides insights into the history and challenges of the two nations. The book reflects his strong advocacy for self-determination and secession for South Sudan.[22]

Political career

Malwal was elected to the national assembly in April 1968 but was later dismissed after a coup by General Nimeiri in 1969.[23][24]

Nimeiri era

Following the 1972 peace agreement, Malwal served as the deputy Minister for Culture and Information from July 1972, and became a minister between May 1973 to 1978, and was involved in foreign government affairs.[23][24] He again became member the national assembly between 1974 and 1978.[2][17]

In July 1976, a force of one thousand insurgents under Sadiq al Mahdi, armed and trained by Libya, crossed the border from Ma'tan as-Sarra. After passing through Darfur and Kordofan, the insurgents engaged in three days of house-to-house fighting in Khartoum and Omdurman that killed some 3000 people.[25] Malwal and Abel Alier continued to broadcast the news from Juba instead from Omdurman. During that time, Nimeiry was able to rally the nation via Radio Juba and his government were narrowly saved after a column of army tanks entered the city.[26]

In 1977, a National Reconciliation took place in Port Sudan between Sadiq al Mahdi and Nimeiry which saw the return of the Hassan al-Turabi, an Islamist leader who had been imprisoned and then exiled after the May Revolution, as the Justice Minister and Attorney General in 1978.[27] Relations between Khartoum and the South Sudan leadership worsened after the National Reconciliation. Malwal publicly opposed National Reconciliation and,[2][28] and in 1978, he resigned in protest against the shift to Sharia law,[29] and Arabic becoming the country official language.[30]

In 1980, Malwal became Regional Minister of Industry and Mining in Abel Alier government for the Southern Sudan Autonomous Region, and later in August 1981 was moved to the Regional Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. He was detained in Kobar Prison after the dismissal of Alier's regional government in October 1981 until 1984.[2] After he was released, he flee to the UK and the US, where he opposed Sadiq al Mahdi's government and testified in front the US Congress about Slavery in Sudan in 1987.[31] He return after the April 1985 revolution as journalist but left to the UK again following the 1989 Sudanese coup d'état.[2][17] In the UK, he testified to the Parliament of the United Kingdom about the famine in Sudan in 1998.[16]

Malwal did not join the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) since its founding in 1983. Rather, he had sharp opinions against it, including accusing Khartoum and John Garang movement of not being serious about achieving peace in South Sudan.[32][33] He also criticised the Arab countries, saying that they talk about Arab-Muslim Sudan as if the south were without people. He also stated that "the Arabs are biased towards the north, and call for the unity of Sudanese soil without regard for the southerners," noting that "the timing of the Arab contribution to development in the south raises doubts about their intentions." Regarding the situation of southerners in Sudan, he said, "During the colonial era, we were second-class citizens, but now we are fourth-class citizen."[33]

al-Bashir era

In 2005 and following the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, Malwal became an adviser to President Omar al-Bashir.[34] In March 2008, Malwal called for the creation of a reconciliation body in South Sudan stating that

It is necessary for the Government of Southern Sudan, therefore, led by the SPLM/SPLA that was largely responsible for the war atrocities within Southern Sudan, to now establish a truth and reconciliation commission, to lay to rest the ghosts of war and to enable the society to reconcile and to move on

— Bona Malwa, during the 15th anniversary commemoration of the death of Joseph Oduhow[32]

In October 2008, Malwal voiced concerns about the potential arrest warrant for al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court (ICC). He dismissed the ICC's move as a politically motivated and defended al-Bashir, claiming that indicting him would target Sudan as a sovereign nation and could negatively impact existing peace agreements. He emphasises that al-Bashir, as a leader, could not be able to order the extermination of any group.[34] In March 2009, al-Bashir became the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the ICC, for allegedly directing a campaign of mass killing, rape, and pillage against civilians in Darfur.[35]

Malwal served as a co-director for al-Bashir camping for 2010 Sudanese general election which he won.[17] He accompanied al-Bashir during his South Sudan campaign visit to Juba, Yambio, Rumbek, Tonj, and Kuacjok.[36] He also stood for election for National Legislature in Warrap but later withdrew his candidacy citing "detention and harassment" by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA),[37] which the SPLA denies.[38]

In June 2011, after South Sudan was declared and recognised following the 2011 South Sudanese independence referendum, Malwal announced that he is retiring from politics.[2] In his retirement statement, Malwal warned against "tribal politics", and reflecting on his time work with al-Bashir, he staid that "I commend his wisdom, fortitude, perseverance and statesmanship and applaud him and thank him for this.”[39]

Controversies

Malwal has been known for his strong political stances, which have sparked controversies as evident from his disagreement with John Garang,[40][41] Hassan Al-Turabi[29] and Sadiq al-Mahdi.[17] WikiLeaks files described him as a sworn enemy of leader John Garang.[42] But he reconciled with Garang's widow in 2019.[40]

He has advocated for self-determination and secession of South Sudan. These views have been met with both support and criticism, leading to debates and disagreements within political circles.[22] Malwal has faced criticism from political analysts and individuals who hold differing views. His intentions was questioned and accused him of divisive politics. These criticisms highlight concerns about his role in promoting unity or separation in South Sudan and the impact of his political rhetoric.[43]

Malwal has been criticised for his involvement in fuelling conflicts and making divisive statements. For example, he has been accused of spreading hate messages against certain ethnic groups, such as the Nuer people.[44] In an article published in the Sudan Tribune in 2007, the Dinka members of the South Sudan Democratic Forum (SSDF) voiced their strong disapproval of Malwal, a prominent figure in the party. They attributed the split within the party to Malwal's actions. The Dinka members accuse him of potentially jeopardising the party's electoral chances due to his association with a controversial government and making statements that could alienate Southerners. They further condemn Malwal for his past "racist" and "tribalistic" views towards other ethnic groups, particularly the Nuer and Equatorians.[45] During his visit to Kansas, US in 2015, Malwal was reported to reiterate "hate messages against the Nuer people."[41][46]

Furthermore, a report suggested that Malwal and Francis Deng fuelled the Twic Mayardit Dinka of Warrap state and the Ngok Dinka of Abyei conflict through his publications.[47][48]

In December 2017, Malwal stated in a press conference in Khartoum that Abyei, a region claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan, is part of Sudan.[49] The statement angered South Sudanese politicians.[50][51][52][53]

Personal life

Malwal is Catholic.[17] He is married to Salwa Gabriel Berberi.[54] His son, Akuei Bona Malwal, is a South Sudanese diplomat[17] and served as the Permanent Representative of South Sudan to the United Nations from 2016[55] to 2023.[56] His daughter, Sandra, is Sudan People's Liberation Movement-Democratic Change Party's Secretary General.[57] According to Malwal, his sister, who was a nurse, was captured into slavery.[58]

Books
  • Malwal, Bona (1975). The Sudan: A Link Between Arab and Non-Arab Africa. Culture & Inf. Ministry, Translation & Publication Department.
  • Malwal, Bona (1981). People & Power in Sudan: The Struggle for National Stability. Ithaca. ISBN 978-0-903729-78-9.
  • Malwal, Bona (1985). The Sudan, a Second Challenge to Nationhood. Thornton Books. ISBN 978-0-936508-13-9.
  • Malwal, Bona; Kok, Peter N. (1995). Crisis in the Sudan: Re-Thinking the Future. Lilian Barber Press. ISBN 978-0-936508-34-4.
  • Malwal, Bona (2005). Sudan's Latest Peace Agreement: An Accord that is Neither Fair Nor Comprehensive. Abdel-Karim Mirghani cultural center.
  • Malwal, B. (2015). Sudan and South Sudan: From One to Two. Palgrave Macmillan UK. ISBN 978-1-349-49376-0.
  • Bol, Fabian Agamlong Guem; Malwal, Bona (2016). Memoirs of a Village-Born General. Bourchier. ISBN 978-0-9934692-0-6.
  • Malwal, Bona (2017). Abyei of the Ngok Dinka: Not Yet South Sudan. Bourchier. ISBN 978-0-9934692-6-8.
  • Malwal, Bona (2022). No Future Without The Past. Bourchier. ISBN 978-1-9161197-2-7.

See also

Notes
  1. or 1938[2] or 1935[3]

References
  1. Harir, Sharif; Tvedt, Terje (1994). Short-cut to Decay: The Case of the Sudan. Nordic Africa Institute. ISBN 978-91-7106-346-5.
  2. Kuyok, Kuyok Abol (4 September 2015). South Sudan: The Notable Firsts. AuthorHouse. ISBN 978-1-5049-4346-8.
  3. Anders, Breidlid (20 October 2014). A Concise History of South Sudan: New and Revised Edition. Fountain Publishers. ISBN 978-9970-25-337-1.
  4. leriche, john; matthew, leriche (1 January 2011), "Bona, Malwal", Dictionary of African Biography, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780195382075.001.0001, ISBN 978-0-19-538207-5, retrieved 10 July 2023
  5. Ryle, John (12 October 1999). "Ranald Boyle". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 24 November 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  6. Deng, Francis Mading (2022). A Personal Perspective on the Ngok-Twic Conflict in Abyei (Report). Sudd Institute.
  7. Congress, The Library of. "Malwal, Bona - LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies | Library of Congress, from LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies (Library of Congress)". id.loc.gov. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
  8. Galander, Mahmoud M. (2001). Mass Media in Sudan: Towards History of Media-politics Interplay. IIUM Press. ISBN 978-983-9727-22-7.
  9. University of Durham. UKIRA - The vigilant Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Publications, Publitec (22 December 2011). Who's Who in the Arab World 2007-2008. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-093004-7.
  11. Akol, Lam. Southern Sudan: Colonialism, Resistance, and Autonomy. Trenton, NJ [u.a.]: Red Sea Press, 2007. p. 47
  12. Collins, Robert O. The Southern Sudan in Historical Perspective. New Brunswick: Transaction, 2006. p. 91
  13. O'Ballance, Edgar. The Secret War in the Sudan, 1955 - 1972. [S.l.]: Shoe String Press, 1977. p. 81
  14. Eprile, Cecil. War and Peace in the Sudan, 1955-1972. Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1974. p. 178
  15. Perlez, Jane; Times, Special To the New York (26 April 1990). "Islamic Militants Dominating Sudan, Exiles Assert". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 25 May 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
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  23. Congress, The Library of. "Malwal, Bona - LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies | Library of Congress, from LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies (Library of Congress)". id.loc.gov. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  24. Johnson, Douglas Hamilton (2003). The Root Causes of Sudan's Civil Wars. International African Institute. ISBN 978-0-85255-392-3.
  25. Burr, J. Millard and Robert O. Collins, Darfur: The Long Road to Disaster, Markus Wiener Publishers: Princeton, 2006, ISBN 1-55876-405-4, p. 111
  26. Dennis Hevesi (11 June 2009). "Gaafar al-Nimeiry, a Sudan Leader With Shifting Politics, Dies at 79". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 June 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  27. "Sudan - National Reconciliation". countrystudies.us. Archived from the original on 29 May 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  28. El-Affendi, Abdelwahab (1990). "'Discovering the South': Sudanese Dilemmas for Islam in Africa". African Affairs. 89 (356): 371–389. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a098304. ISSN 0001-9909. JSTOR 722373. Archived from the original on 10 June 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  29. Warburg, Gabriel (2003). Islam, Sectarianism and Politics in Sudan Since the Mahdiyya. Hurst & Company. ISBN 978-1-85065-588-6.
  30. Warburg, Gabriel R. (1990). "The Sharia in Sudan: Implementation and Repercussions, 1983-1989". Middle East Journal. 44 (4): 624–637. ISSN 0026-3141. JSTOR 4328194. Archived from the original on 13 December 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  31. Jok, Jok Madut (3 August 2010). War and Slavery in Sudan. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-8122-0058-4.
  32. SudanTribune (7 April 2008). "Bona Malwal urges establishment of reconciliation body in South Sudan". Sudan Tribune. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  33. "ونا ملوال وزير الإعلام السوداني السابق: العرب منحازون للشمال كأنما الجنوب بلا بشر" [Bona Malwal, former Sudanese Minister of Information: Arabs are biased toward the North, as if the South had no human beings]. Middle East. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
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  36. SudanTribune (11 March 2010). "Omer Al Bashir campaigns in Rumbek". Sudan Tribune. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
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  39. SudanTribune (24 June 2011). "Bona Malwal: Tribal politics will divide independent South Sudan". Sudan Tribune. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
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  41. Kwaje, Justin S. (26 March 2015). "Breaking: El Bashir Adviser, Bona Malwal Madut, Broadcasts Inflammatory Hate Speeches Against Non-Dinka Tribes in Kansas, USA!". Nyamilepedia. Archived from the original on 1 April 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
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  50. SudanTribune (6 January 2018). "Sayed Bona Malwal: A Sudanese Desperately Dreaming of Re-annexing South Sudan to Sudan". Sudan Tribune. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
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  52. says, Gordon Buay (10 December 2017). "Abyei and Bona Malwal: Are South Sudanese Sacrificing the Abyei Dinka to Khartoum?". PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd - South Sudan. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  53. الهامش, صوت (2 February 2018). "سيد بونا ملوال: السوداني الذى يحلم بإعادة ضم جنوب السودان للسودان(3-3)" [Sayed Bona Malwal: The Sudanese who dreams of re-annexing southern Sudan to Sudan]. صوت الهامش (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
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  56. "New Permanent Representative of South Sudan Presents Credentials to the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva | UN GENEVA". www.ungeneva.org. 13 June 2023. Archived from the original on 28 June 2023. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  57. SudanTribune (19 September 2011). "Three leading members resign from the opposition SPLM-DC". Sudan Tribune. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  58. Bombay, Cal (13 April 2011). Let My People Go: A True Account of Present-Day Terrorism in Sudan. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-307-77822-2.
  • Olusegun Obasanjo, Ntsato Motlana, Bona Malwal, Jacques Mariel Nzouankeu, and Geoffrey One-Obel (1 May 1989). Democratic Revolution in Africa (Videotape). C-SPAN.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Luis E. Aguilar Leon, Carl Gershman, Li Lu, Bona Malwal, Doan Van Toai, Henry Cisneros (15 April 1991). Surviving Dictatorship (Videotape). C-SPAN.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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