Who was the late Isaiah Kulang Mabor Deng?
10 min readBy Agok Takpiny, Australia
January 11, 2015 (SSB) — When President Kiir declared 3 days of mourning to honor late Uncle Isaiah Kulang Mabor Deng, a well-known Facebook politician called Ngong Aluong (aka Jon Pen) from Jonglei (not sure which county exactly) posted in his Facebook page questioning why president Kiir failed to do the same to late Hon. Deu Aguin from Twic East and late uncle Elijah Malok (may his soul R.I.P.) also from Twic East?
That post attracted about 160 comments most of which come from that part of South Sudan, the comments were almost unanimously saying that SalvaKiir did what he did because Uncle Isaiah Kulang was from Bhar el Ghazal while the other deceased were not. Some hilariously went as far as saying that Uncle Isaiah Kulang was a direct uncle to president Kirr. For the record, Salva Kiir is from Rek sub-section of Dinka in greater Gogrial, and Isaiah Kulang was from Atuot tribe in Yirol (some 300 miles away from Gogrial).
You know what I really hate? When a singular tragic moment, sudden, unexpected and with tragic consequences incites responses like ‘what about other dead people elsewhere’…. That’s callous. I hope in the future if you ever mourn the death of a loved one I hope no one ever says to you ‘other people die too’.
All lives matters, no death is bigger than the other, and yes outsiders can measure or qualify that but anyone who lost a love one is ever in deep pain for their love one is irreplaceable. I am not here to belittle Hon. Deu Aguin or Uncle Elijah Malok in favor of my uncle Kulang because each one of these late good South Sudanese was unique in their own way and we all would have love if God let them stayed with us for a little bit longer. I am here to tell Ngong Aluong (Jon Pen) who my Uncle Kulang Mabor Deng was and to let him know that it is Un-Dinka to talk about the dead for they are not in a position to defend themselves.
Let me start with what Uncle Kulang Mabor Deng did in our family that benefited not only our family but the entire South Sudan and SPLA in particular.
Uncle Kulang partially educates a number of his nephews namely:
1. Lt Gen. Telar Ring Takpiny Deng (well you know him)
2. Lt Maker Kulang Mabor Deng (his own son martyred in Gogrial area fighting Arabs in 1990s)
3. Major Adok Tueny Mabor Deng (currently logistic officer in South Sudan police department)
4. Captain Key Ring Takpiny Deng (currently executive director in Aweirial county)
5. Brig Gen. Rin (aka Jenafil) Tueny Mabor Deng (currently deputy chief of external security in SS)
6. Prof. Apugy Kulang Takpiny Deng (currently Dean in the school of sciences at Bhar el Ghazal Uni)
7. My elder brother major Dhieu Wel Takpiny Deng (currently minister for information and communication in Lakes state).
Apart from Prof. Apugy Kulang Takpiny Deng who opted to complete his studies first, the rest of my brothers joined the SPLA in 1983-84 respectively and have fought the entire war of our liberation. That is a huge credit which deserved ultimate honor. Uncle Isaiah Kulang was a selfless man, there was nothing he love doing more than helping others.
Read on for more amazing things he had done.
The following brief biography of Uncle Kulang was taken out of his CV and was prepared by his nephew Telar Ring Takpiny Deng and me.
Born in Yirol in 1930s (approximately) and as a son of the chief, he was one of the first local boys enrolled by the British colonial authorities at Tonj Elementary School in June 1944.In 1951, he attended a junior and secondary school in Rumbek, however during the 1955 mutiny by Southern Sudanese soldiers. The government decided to transfer all the schools to Khartoum. Hence the late Isaiah completed his secondary school in Khartoum in 1958.
In his tertiary education Uncle Isaiah Kulang was trained and awarded a Diploma in Public Administration from the Institute of Public Administration, Khartoum, in 1965. He also studied Wildlife Management at Mweka College, Tanzania (1966-1968) where he obtained advance diploma.
Uncle Isaiah’s long public service career began in June 1959, when he joined the government service, as an Assistant Game Reservation Officer, Khartoum Zoo. He went on to become Inspector of Game Reservation in many places including Dindeer Park in Blue Nile Province, Juba in Equatoria Province in 1960.
Uncle Isaiah Kulang’s return from Tanzania coincided with the coming to power of the May revolution government in 1969. As one of the few experienced senior Southern Sudanese officials in the government, the Ministry of Southern Affairs in Khartoum transferred him to Juba in 1971.
After the Addis Ababa Agreement, Uncle Isaiah Kulang became the first Deputy Director and subsequently Director of Wildlife and Tourism, in the Regional Ministry of Culture, Information, Youth, Sports, Wildlife and Tourism, Juba (1972-1973). As the head of the directorate, he effectively oversaw the establishment of the Directorate literally from the scratch. More importantly, he expediently presided over the absorption and reintegration of the ex-Anya nya fighters into the Wildlife organised force.
However, Uncle Isaiah Kulang, who was a member of the Southern Front in the 1960s, resigned his senior civil service position and joined politics. He was appointed Commissioner of Bahr el Ghazal Province, Wau in 1973. At that time he oversaw the construction of Jur River Bridge in Wau (the biggest and only world standard bridge up to date in South Sudan).
Uncle Isaiah Kulang was a practical person who believed in delivery of tangible services. He applied himself into focusing on the most vexing and difficult administrative and security challenges in the province. For instance, he worked with the chiefs and the judicial system to resolve the Apuk intra-tribal conflict in Gogrial. In 1975, the Amakir and Lual Sub-sections of Apuk had a dispute which went on for 15 years during which so many people died. Isaiah Kulang formed an investigation committee chaired by Judge Wuol Makec. That committee carried out a thorough investigation into the conflict for 7 months.
In April 1976, the late Isaiah Kulang organised a tribal conference in Wanhalel in Gogrial. The convening of the Wanhalel Conference in 1976, was the most profound achievement of his Commissionership of Bahr el Ghazal. The Conference brought together all the traditional leaders, notables and elders of Bahr el Ghazal to deliberate on issues of security, intra-tribal conflicts and more importantly customary law. The resolutions of the conference led to the unification and codification of the Dinka Customary Law in the province that remained until today.The Apuk of Gogrial witnessed peace since that time which is a testimony of his success in addressing the problem from its root causes.
Furthermore, in 1974, a sectarian fight broke out between Malual Dinka and Rizegaat Arabs of Southern Darfur during which over 1000 people died on Malual side and 7 people on Rizegaat side. The conflict was over the grazing land and water points for animals. That conflict started during the British rule. To solve the conflict, the central government in Khartoum organised a tribal conference in Babanusa in 1979 chaired by Dr Bashir Abadi with late Isaiah as co-chairman. That conference was attended by most ministers from Central government and the government of Southern Sudan region. That conference passed many resolutions that solved the conflict once and for all.
Politically, Uncle Isaiah Kulang was a uniting factor, particularly in Yirol. He kept the people together through resolution of conflicts which, created peace and harmony in the area. Uncle Isaiah Kulang never discriminated in hiring and deployment of staff members in all his public service tenure. Consequently, he earned respect from his people and colleagues across the South.
As a result, he had never lost an election for his parliamentary constituency seat. He won successive elections to the Second People’s Regional Assembly, Juba (1978-1980) and succeeded Clement Mboro as Speaker of this very August House, from 18 July 1979 to 4 February 1980 when President Nimeiri unconstitutionally dissolved the Assembly.
He was also re-elected to the Third People’s Regional Assembly (1980-1981) and reinstated into High Executive Council as Minister for Communications, Transport and Roads in 1980. Uncle Isaiah Kulang won his seat again for the Fourth People’s Regional Assembly (1982-1983). When the issue of the Re-division of the Southern Region came up, Uncle Isaiah Kulang opposed it vehemently. He joined hands with other politicians to form the Council for the Unity of the Southern Sudan (CUSS). He was a member of the Executive Committee in December 1981 that signed a petition addressed to President Nimeiri warning him of the grave consequences in violating the constitution and the self-government act of 1972. As a result he was imprisoned in Kober with the rest of his colleagues in December 1981.
After the Re-division of the Southern Region, although Uncle Isaiah Kulang was in opposition against the Group of Change II, Dr Lawrence WolWol appointed him as Minster for Works and Communications in Bahr el Ghazal Region, Wau (June 1983-April 1985) because of his professionalism, tireless commitments and dedication to service provision to the people of Southern Sudan. As a Minister of Works and Communication, Uncle Isaiah Kulang had the task of finding suitable accommodation for the newly established Regional Government in Wau. With his previous background as Commissioner of Bahr el Ghazal, and support from his colleagues in the government such as the Governor and his deputy, Aldo Ajou Deng, he was able to perform this assignment satisfactorily. In those days, he shuttled between Wau and Juba as he represented Bahr el Ghazal Region in the liquidation and division of the assets of the Southern Region.
After the demise of the Nimeri regime in April 1985, he helped found the Southern Sudan Political Association (SSPA) and became Secretary for Finance in the Party’s Executive Committee (1985-1989). He was appointed Minister for Transport, Roads and Communications in the Transitional High Executive Council (THEC) (1985-1986) in Khartoum. The Transitional Military Council (TMC) reinstated the Addis Ababa Agreement and the THEC was meant to assume its seat in Juba. He subsequently served as a Deputy Governor in Bahr el Ghazal, Wau in 1988.
After the NIF military coup in June 1989, Uncle Isaiah Kulang, a principled politician, declined many attempts by the Islamic regime to lure him into government. His consistent rejection to take part in the NIF government landed him many times in prison. The only reason why Bashir couldn’t killed him was because the powerful Vice president Mr Ali Osman Mohammed Taha is a God-child of Isaiah Kulang.
When late Isaiah was a minister, his driver was Ali’s father. Because the driver’s salary was not that enough, the late Isaiah decided to pay Ali’s school fees from primary to secondary school and then included Ali Osman Mohammed Taha into Southern Sudan’s allocated places in the universities as Ali had no chance to compete in the North. Hence Ali call himself Isaiah Kulang’s son. Many people believe that the relationship between Mohamed Taha and Isaiah Kulang played a greater role in the CPA signing since Ali Mohamed Taha was a chief negotiator in the peace talk between the government of Sudan and Southern Sudan rebels.
Given his relationship with Ali Mohamed Taha, Uncle Isaiah Kulang had a chance to demand whichever position in Bashir government and could surely got it, he would have made himself extremely rich by amassing raw wealth in the names of South Sudanese through his son the powerful vice president Ali Mohamed Taha. However Uncle Kulang resisted the temptations of joining the NIF which is now NCP. It was here that Uncle Isaiah Kulang convinced people how ‘clean’ he was. Instead of accepting the job offers from NIF regime, uncle Isaiah joined other colleagues such as late Hilary Logali, late Ezekiel Macuei Kodi, Joseph Ukel Abango, Gen Peter Cirilo, John Kazook Chuol, and Dr Jimmy Wongo to revive the Union of Sudan African Parties (USAP), in the 1990s in Khartoum.
His main concern was to unite the people of Southern Sudan. He believed that unity of the Southern Sudan is paramount as it would be key to their destiny. He wanted USAP to be a vehicle of achieving this noble goal. Indeed, USAP emerged as the legitimate and respected voice for the Southern Sudan inside the country. USAP crystallized the views of the Southern Sudan, which helped pushed the peace process in Kenya forward and ultimately culminated in the Comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) in January 2005.
In term of age, Uncle Isaiah Kulang was not overly older than late Uncle Elijah Malok but when Uncle Kulang came to Nairobi in 2001 and was accommodated by his nephew Telar Ring in his house in Magiwa estate in Ngumu district, late Uncle Elijah Malok who lived next door usually come to Uncle Kulang to have a chat and he used to called Uncle Kulang “uncle”. It was not only Uncle Elijah Malok who visited him, those of late Justin Yach Arop also used to come and have a long chat with him.
Madam Rebecca Nyandeng came twice to pick him up to meet Dr John Garang and have a chat, yes Dr Garang had so many cars and drivers and he could easily send anyone of them to come and picked up Uncle Kulang, but instead it was Nyandeng who personally used to come with a convoy of 3 cars.This was because Uncle Kulang was above all sectarianism that plaque our country. Uncle Kulang saw himself only as a South Sudanese and nothing more.
Hence, whether it is President Rebecca Nyandeng, or President Majak Agot, or President Kiir, anyone of them would have honor Uncle Isaiah Kulang with a state funeral that he deserved and we thank President Salva Kiir for doing that.
Thank you all, may God bless you.
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