Sudan’s FM Lam Akol, a man wholly rooted in struggle
By Chuol Wan Luot
Nov 10, 2005 — for me, I knew Dr. Akol and met him personally. He is a man wholly rooted in struggle. Only by viewing things from his standpoint that one will really understand the meaning of what he says.
Dr. Akol was born in Athdhoi village north of the town of Kodok in 1955. His father was a Medical Assistant. He obstained a B.Sc.(ENG) degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Khartoum (1975), a M. Eng. degree in Petroleum Engineering from Heriot-University, Edinburgh (1977) and a Ph.d degree in Chemical Engineering from the Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London (1980) Dr. Akol was a member of the SPLM political military high command. Like John Garang and Riek Machar, Dr. Akol had a dream of bringing change in the Sudan and thus brought division in Southern Sudan.
His career as a politician has been influenced by his early involvement in Sudanese politics. He has been aware of and engaged in the politics of the Sudan since he was eight years old. An aide recalled that his father took him to bid farewell to Southern troops, who went to the first liberation war in 1964. Then, after the cessation of military operations, he again accompanied his father to greet the troops on their return. However, he noticed that the era was different than before. He asked his father about the changes in the mood of the people of the South. His father told him, “When you grow up I would like to see you joining the liberation.” Indeed, he was the architect of Right to Self-determination and Peace between North and South, and is described by many as a man who was more responsible for the peace than Dr. Garang and Dr. Riek Machar. Nevertheless, his generation witnessed what is known as marginalization of Africans in the Sudan, which deeply influenced him and let to his participation in politics both in underground movements and political parties. In fact, the appointment of a politician like Dr. Lam Akol as foreign minister of the Sudan will bring people of political vision as well as deep commitment to achieve major goals and political programs of the government.
Actually, Dr. Akol will have a very difficult and absurd position as foreign minister of a country that is under the most severe tyrannical rule, with people unable to publicly criticize the government, while, at the same time, the government is championing the causes of human rights and political freedoms in other countries.
Dr. Akol has been on a twenty year personal pilgrimage toward what his former commander once described, simply, as “the place he really wants to be.” His presence in government gives hope for Sudanese foreign policy in the twenty-first century.
Dr. Akol will play a more important role than before through his international contacts, but he does not quite know how and at what level. Dr. Akol will still be looking for a place where Sudan can belong, not “a place in the sun”, but not “a place in the shadows” either. For Dr Akol, Sudanese foreign policy will mean more about the future than about the past, about new structures and the future of the new structures, especially the new African union. It means talking about Sudan’s opportunities to help the rest of the world and not only about what Sudanese have done for their own recovery during the past years. In order to understand Akol as foreign policy leader in Sudan it is essential, not only to pay special attention to his philosophy, but also his past experience.
His basic philosophy requires that NCP and SPLM leaders make a concerned effort to select a set of national objectives that will be successfully pursued in the existing international environment. Morever, he would be responsible for making these national objectives understood in the domestic and international arenas. Dr. Akol believes that the New Sudan’s foreign policy must be grounded in reality rather than political ideology. Therefore, Dr. Akol believes Sudan must always be free to act in what it views as its best interests.
Indeed, the Sudanese diplomats should welcome Dr. Akol. He will be a good foreign minister and good listener who will always respond to their concerns on the issues affecting Sudan domestically and internationally.
* Chuol Wan Luot is a student in conflict studies at Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
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