Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Nhial Deng Nhial is a

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

ese politician and a member of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM). He was

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

2011 to 2013 and 2018 to 2019 after having served as the caretaker

Minister of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

since 10 July 2011. 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.

Biography

Nhial Deng is a

Dinka The Dinka people () are a Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan. The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Mangalla-Bor to Renk, in the region of Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile (two out of three provinces that were formerly part of southern ...

from Thony of Tonj South County,

Warrap State Warrap is one of the ten states in South Sudan with its Headquarters at Kuajok. Warrap state is located in the Bahr el Ghazal region. The state was separately established in 2005 following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between ...

Bahr el Ghazal Bahr el-Ghazal (, also transliterated ''Bahr al-Ghazal'', ''Baḥr al-Ghazāl'', ''Bahr el-Gazel'', or versions of these without the hyphen) may refer to two distinct places, both named after ephemeral or dry rivers. Chad * Bahr el-Ghazal (wadi in ...

region of

. He is the son of the famous late leader

William Deng Nhial William Deng Nhial (1929 – 5 May 1968) was the political leader of the Sudan African National Union (SANU), from 1962 to 1968. He was elected unopposed. He was one of founders of the military wing of the Anyanya fighting for the independence of s ...

who was assassinated in 1968 before the Addis Ababa Agreement was signed between

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, in 1972. William Deng Nhial was as thoughtful as

John Garang John Garang De Mabior (June 23, 1945 – July 30, 2005) was a Sudanese politician and revolutionary leader. From 1983 to 2005, he led the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M, Now known as South Sudan People's Defense Forces) as a co ...

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 The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM; , ''Al-Ḥarakat ash-Shaʿbiyyat liTaḥrīr as-Sūdān'') is a political party in South Sudan. It was initially founded as the political wing of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA; a key belli ...

and of the

Sudan People's Liberation Army The South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF), formerly the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), is the military force of South Sudan. The SPLA was founded as a guerrilla movement against the government of Sudan in 1983 and was a key parti ...

. Nhial joined the SPLA right after its inception in 1983. He was closely associated with the drafting and negotiation of the

Comprehensive Peace Agreement The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA, ), also known as the Naivasha Agreement, was an accord signed on 9 January 2005, by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Government of Sudan. The CPA was meant to end the Second Sudane ...

between the

Republic of Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

and

, which was signed in

Naivasha Naivasha is a town in Nakuru County, Kenya, north west of Nairobi. From 1969, the population expanded by a factor of 17 times to over 355,383 at the 2019 census. It is situated on the shores of Lake Naivasha, from which it takes its name. The ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, in January 2005.

Education

Nhial completed his early education at

Comboni College Comboni College for Science and Technology (CCST), originally Comboni College for Computer Science, is a private college in Khartoum, Sudan, established as a technical college since 2001. It goes back to the earlier school for boys, founded by Ca ...

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

. He then entered the

University of Khartoum The University of Khartoum (U of K) () is a public university located in Khartoum, Sudan. It is the largest and oldest university in Sudan. UofK was founded as Gordon Memorial College in 1902 and established in 1956 when Sudan gained independen ...

to study law. He graduated in the early 1980s with a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

and earned a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

from the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 2008. He is fluent in both

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. There are South Sudanese media reports, yet unconfirmed, that following the conclusion of the

Naivasha Agreement The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA, ), also known as the Naivasha Agreement, was an accord signed on 9 January 2005, by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Government of Sudan. The CPA was meant to end the Second Sudane ...

, Nhial was slated to become the Sudanese Foreign Minister in the ''Government of National Unity''. However following the death of

in a plane crash in July 2005, Nhial refused entreaties to serve in Khartoum and opted to work in the nascent Government of

(GOSS).

Role in the government of Southern Sudan

Nhial was appointed Minister of Regional Affairs in the

Southern Sudanese South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

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

was planning to dismiss Salva Kiir as his deputy and replace him with Nhial. However, at a meeting of SPLA top brass held in

Rumbek Rumbek () is the capital of Lakes State in the Bahr el Ghazal region of South Sudan. Location Rumbek is approximately by road northwest of Juba, the capital and largest city in the country. Its coordinates are and its elevation is abov ...

, in December 2004, one month before the signing of the CPA, Garang made it clear that those speculations were just that; only speculations, without any basis for truth. In December 2008, Nhial was appointed ''Minister of SPLA and Veterans Affairs'' by President

Salva Kiir Salva Kiir Mayardit (born 13 September 1951), commonly known as Salva Kiir, is a South Sudanese politician who is the President of South Sudan since its independence on 9 July 2011. Prior to independence, he was the President of the Government ...

, replacing

Dominic Dim Deng Lt Gen Dominic Dim Deng (1 March 1950 – 2 May 2008) was a senior member of the Sudan People's Liberation Army, a distinguished military veteran general and the first defence minister in the Government of Southern Sudan who lost his life alongs ...

who died in a plane crash on 2 May 2008. He returned to the South Sudanese cabinet with the military rank of

in the SPLA. Following the

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

of South Sudan on 9 July 2011, Nhial Deng Nhial was appointed Caretaker Minister of Defense of the

Republic of South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

. On 26 August 2011, President

Salva Kiir Mayardit Salva Kiir Mayardit (born 13 September 1951), commonly known as Salva Kiir, is a South Sudanese politician who is the President of South Sudan since its independence on 9 July 2011. Prior to independence, he was the List of heads of state of So ...

unveiled his long-awaited cabinet with Nhial appointed as the minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation of the Republic of South Sudan. In 2020, President Salva Kiir appointed 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.

Photos

Flickr.com: Photo of Lieutenant General Nhial Deng Nhial, South Sudanese Defense MinisterAnother Photo of Lt. General Nhial Deng Nhial, Also At Flickr.com

External links

Website of Government of South Sudan

References