Western Bahr el Ghazal mourns former deputy governor
October 24, 2014 (WAU) – Former deputy governor of Western Bahr el Ghazal state Efisio Kon Uguak was laid to rest in Wau on Friday.
Thousands gathered to pay their last respects to Uguak, with both the South Sudan Radio and Television branches in the area broadcasting condolence messages.
State governor Rizik Zachariah Hassan, his deputy and members of his cabinet were also in attendance, along with a number of high ranking military officers, including fifth division commander Major General Manyok Barach.
Uguak, who hailed from Luo community (Jurchol), served as caretaker governor of the state during the country’s first elections in 2010 and was later appointed as state deputy governor under Hassan. He was replaced by Morris Yel Akol Tiit in July 2011.
Uguak also served as an advisor to the governor on peace and reconciliation.
He was educated in Bushere town in the 1930s and went on to study law in Egypt before returning to South Sudan.
He joined the then rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in 1985 after defecting from the Sudanese government in Wau town, where he was a member of the police force.
He also served in the South Sudanese army (SPLA), rising to the rank of brigadier general before his retirement.
Hassan praised Uguak’s role as a politician, saying his death was a great loss to the people of South Sudan.
Three days of mourning have been declared in Western Bahr el Ghazal in memory of the former deputy governor.
(ST)