S. Sudan former detainees mourn fallen army chief of staff
April 22, 2018 (JUBA) – The former political detainees in South Sudan have described the country’s fallen army chief of staff, General James Ajongo Mawut as “a friend, a liberator and a colleague”.
The group, in a 20 April condolence message to the deceased family and the public, expressed shock over Mawut’s death.
“It is with shock that we have come to learn of the untimely passing on of General James Ajongo Mawut. We join the people of South Sudan at large in condoling the family and friends of the late Ajongo as they try come to terms with this great loss. General Ajongo was a friend, liberator and colleague, who had stood shoulder to shoulder, fought alongside, agonized, cried and laughed together with many of us, during the liberation years”, partly reads the statement.
The former political detainees, in the statement, also described the deceased as a “humble” and “honourable” person widely respected not only within the army, but in the larger society as well.
“Today General Ajongo joins many other liberation heroes and heroines who had gone before him. As South Sudanese mourn and honor his memory, we pray that his demise, sad as it is, will serve to shine light on the plight of war veterans, fallen heroes and heroines of the war of liberation, especially the plight of the families of those who have passed on, after having made the ultimate sacrifice,” adds the statement, signed by Kosti Manibe.
South Sudan president, Salva Kiir earlier described the fallen army chief of staff as a “remarkable” man and committed founder member of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A).
“He [Mawut] served this nation with dedication and honour and shall be remembered as [a] hero,” Kiir said in a statement issued Friday.
Although it still remains unclear what caused the general’s death, a family member said he spent months in Kenya before he was relocated to a Cairo-based hospital.
Meanwhile the government has declared three days of official mourning of Mawut and ordered that all flags be flown at half-mast.
Mawut, who joined the southern-based rebel movement in 1983, became army chief of general staff in May 2017 after South Sudan President Salva Kiir sacked General Paul Malong Awan.
(ST)