Nhial Deng Nhial

Lieutenant General Nhial Deng Nhial is a South Sudanese politician and a member of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM). He was Minister of Foreign Affairs 2011 to 2013 and 2018 to 2019 after having served as the caretaker Minister of Defense since 10 July 2011.[1] Prior to that he served as the pre-independence South Sudanese Minister of SPLA and Veteran Affairs, from 22 December 2008 until 9 July 2011.[2]

Nhial Deng Nhial
Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Sudan
In office
2011–2013
Preceded byDeng Alor Kuol
Succeeded byDr. Barnaba Marial Benjamin
In office
2018–2019
Preceded byDeng Alor Kuol
Succeeded byAwut Deng Acuil
Personal details
CitizenshipSouth Sudanese
NationalitySouth Sudanese
ParentWilliam Deng Nhial
ResidenceJuba, South Sudan
EducationBachelor of Laws (LLB)
University of Khartoum, Khartum, Sudan;
Master of Laws (LLM)
University of Dundee, UK
OccupationLawyer & Politician
Known forPolitics

Biography

Nhial Deng is a Dinka from Thony of Tonj South County, Bahr el Ghazal region of South Sudan. He is the son of the famous late leader William Deng Nhial who was assassinated in 1968 before the Addis Ababa Agreement was signed between Sudan and South Sudan in Ethiopia, in 1972. William Deng Nhial was as thoughtful as John Garang was. His son Nhial Deng Nhial did not join the movement as a member of an average Southern Sudanese family, he came from a home of a politician and was familiar with the grief of losing his father when he was young. He is a man of honor and he has committed his life to the liberation of South Sudan as a member of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement and of the Sudan People's Liberation Army. Nhial joined the SPLA right after its inception in 1983. He was closely associated with the drafting and negotiation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Republic of Sudan and South Sudan, which was signed in Naivasha, Kenya, in January 2005.

Education

Nhial Deng Nhial completed his early education at Comboni College in Khartoum, Sudan. He then entered the University of Khartoum to study law. He graduated in the early 1980s with the degree of Bachelor of Laws (LLB), and earned a Master of Laws degree LLM from the University of Dundee in the UK in 2008. He is fluent in both English and Arabic. There are South Sudanese media reports, yet unconfirmed, that following the conclusion of the Naivasha Agreement, Nhial Deng Nhial was slated to become the Sudanese Foreign Minister in the Government of National Unity. However following the death of Dr. John Garang in a plane crash in July 2005, Mr. Nhial refused entreaties to serve in Khartoum and opted to work in the nascent Government of South Sudan (GOSS).

Role in the government of Southern Sudan

Nhial Deng Nhial was appointed Minister of Regional Affairs in the Southern Sudanese cabinet in 2005 by President Salva Kiir. He however abruptly resigned from the cabinet less than six months later. There has been speculation as to what led to that resignation, with no clear reason being fronted.

In 2004, rumors soared across Southern Sudan that John Garang was planning to dismiss Salva Kiir as his deputy and replace him with Nhial Deng Nhial. However, at a meeting of SPLA top brass held in Rumbek, in December 2004, one month before the signing of the CPA, Dr. Garang made it clear that those speculations were just that; only speculations, without any basis for truth.

In December 2008, Nhial Deng Nhial was appointed Minister of SPLA and Veterans Affairs by the then President of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir, replacing General Dominic Dim Deng who died in a plane crash on 2 May 2008. He returned to the South Sudanese cabinet with the military rank of Lieutenant General in the SPLA.[3] Following the independence of South Sudan on 9 July 2011, Nhial Deng Nhial was appointed Caretaker Minister of Defense of the Republic of South Sudan. On 26 August 2011, President Salva Kiir Mayardit unveiled his long-awaited cabinet with Mr. Nhial Deng Nhial appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of South Sudan.

In 2020, President Salva Kiir appointed Nhial Deng Nhial as minister of presidential affairs in the Revitalized government of national unity.

He is a member of the SPLM's highest organ, the Political Bureau, and served as the leader of the SPLM delegation in Naivasha peace talks.[4]

Photos

See also

References
  1. "The Newly Appointed Ministers, 10 July 2011". Archived from the original on 8 November 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
  2. Nhial Deng Nhial Appointed Minister for SPLA Affairs In December 2008
  3. Nhial Deng Nhial Rejoins Southern Sudan's Cabinet
  4. Nhial Deng Nhial Is A High Ranking Party Official In the SPLM affairsairs.html Archived 28 June 2011 at the Stanford Web Archive
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