The Resignation of Justice Bullen Panchol Awal from the Supreme Court of South Sudan
By Eng. Deng Diar Diing, Mombasa, Kenya
Monday, July 2, 2018 (PW) — “Justice suffers when men refuse to stand firm for what is right. If we don’t fight lawlessness, it prevails. If we don’t establish the truth in our nations, truth becomes foreign in the country. God says there is no man when there is nobody who stands for the truth.” Sunday Adelaja.
When I heard that Justice Bullen Panchol Awal Alier finally threw in his towel as a judge of Supreme Court of South Sudan on Friday 29th of June 2018, I then knew the last nail on the coffin of meritocracy, objectivity and the spirit of rule of law has been driven home by the beneficiaries of anarchy in beloved Country.
Bullen Panchol has been among the few judges who have refused the use of Supreme Court as a tool of settling political scores, something that has kept the 64 tribes together regardless of daily mayhem our country witnesses. This is something that has stood between him and being the President of Supreme Court(Chief Justice), a worthwhile course indeed!!!
When people go to school, right from early days, there are those who are known and acknowledged by their generation for their intellectual gift. Opportunities may present themselves differently as life unfolds but their generation will always remember and seek their uniqueness to benefit from their cerebral prowess.
Bullen Panchol Awal has been one of the few who cut themselves out at early age of their education and life as intelligent, objective and bold. Something that won him foes and friends alike and it has remained his brand throughout his public service.
The confidence derived from his intellectual ability has always made him stand above mediocrity and waywardedness.
He is on record as one of the few intellectuals who would write to Dr. John Garang directly protesting particular way of doing business in the Movement but Garang would urgently seek his differing opinion for he knew he had material to add to the strategic direction of the revolutionary struggle.
So when people of his caliber leave the government they sacrificed for unceremoniously, then we are left to ask two questions: Who is running the government of SPLM/A? and Who is the government serving? To understand the person we are talking about, let’s see his profile below:
Who is Bullen Panchol Awal Alier?
Born in Baidit Payam to Awal Alier Gaar from Angakuei and Abany Tiir Angoh from Apaleh in 1950, he went to school and continued to work as detailed below:
- 2003-2004-Heidelberg University(Germany); LLM, Constitutional Law
- 2002-2003-Max Plunk Institute(Germany); Fellowship, Comparative Constitutional and International Law
- 1970-1975-University of Khartoum, LLB
- 1966-1968 Rumbek Senior Secondary School
- 1963-1965 Obel Junior Secondary School
- 1960-1962-Malek Elementary School
- 1957-1959-Baidit Bush school
After his graduation from the University of Khartoum with Honours in Law, he quickly passed his Barrister Examination to become among the first from his batch to be deployed to the Judiciary where he served until 1984 when he resigned as a Presiding Judge in Yambio to join the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.
He graduated in Bonga in 1985 with Zalzal Division as a Capt. and Judicial Officer where he was deployed to various parts of Upper Nile and Equatoria Regions. He later got promoted to an Alternate Commander and then to a full Commander in 2000.
On the signing of Permanent Ceasefire in 2002 and on their preparation for running the State, he took a Study Leave and went to Germany to refresh and further his education.
He was appointed by Dr. John Garang before his unfortunate demise to the Constitutional Court in Khartoum.
- 2005-2010: A member of Constitutional Court(Sudan)
- 2011-2018: A Member of Supreme Court of South Sudan.
Until his resignation unless if my statistics fails me, Justice Bullen Panchol Awal was the only Judge in the Supreme Court with the Rank of Retired Major General. A rank he obtained not from salaried acquiescence but through voluntary Revolutionary Struggle.
Because of my hard experiences as a very little boy in the bush during the liberation struggle, I always feel and side with the liberators especially when they have been elbowed out by swindlers of our hard-won Freedom.
A nation that does not honour its Freedom Fighters is bound to fail! Finally, I am proud to call Bullen Panch Awal Alier my father. He is the father of my dear wife Suzy Bullen Panchol.
The opinion expressed here is solely the view of the writer. The veracity of any claim made is the responsibility of the author, not PaanLuel Wël Media (PW) website. If you want to submit an opinion article, commentary or news analysis, please email it to paanluel2011@gmail.com. PaanLuel Wël Media (PW) website do reserve the right to edit or reject material before publication. Please include your full name, a short biography, email address, city and the country you are writing from.
About Post Author
