How My Father Co-founded Bilpam in 1975 that later headquartered the SPLM/SPLA

By James Gatdet Dak Lampuar, Juba, South Sudan

Wednesday, January 12, 2022 (PW) — History is important, and particularly a correct history, no matter how insignificant it may look. Below is a brief history of how Bilpam was founded as a base for subsequent liberation movements since the mid-1970s.

Here is a fraction of the journey of our history in the liberation struggles which many people did not know. It was my humble and Christian dad, Elder John Dak Lampuar, who in 1975 selected and laid the foundation of Bilpam with his own hands in order to become the base for the Anya-Nya II and then SPLM/SPLA movements.

When the Addis Ababa Agreement of 1972 was abrogated by Khartoum, a number of South(ern) Sudanese officers in Akobo led by Benson Kuany Latjor decided to match out in protest towards Ethiopia in 1975. 

After reaching Ethiopia and meeting Ethiopian authorities, they were welcomed and reportedly directed to find a suitable site for their base, around the area of Nyigol and Puldeng villages, near the Ethiopian border with South Sudan. They were specifically directed to meet the church leader in that area to host and guide them on the selection of a site. That church leader in 1975 happened to be my father, Elder John Dak Lampuar.

My father welcomed the officers: Benson Kuany Latjor, Michael Waat Latjor, James Tap Liah, and Bol Kur. Then Gordon Koang Chuol and Paulino Matip Nhial joined them at a later stage. 

My father told them about two possible sites to choose from as a base: Bilpam and Chotkuach. And my father recommended Bilpam to them because it is a beautiful hilly site, with dense forests and a lot of coconut trees, and a river around it with lots of fish.

My dad took them to see Bilpam site. When they arrived, Benson Kuany and his team liked the site. Benson Kuany asked my dad as the host to cut and clear the first grass in the centre of Bilpam in a ceremonial manner to bless and officiate the founding of Bilpam. My father did exactly that, and Bilpam was declared established or founded!

Benson Kuany brought about 50 of his men from Itang and cleared the bushes of Bilpam and gradually began to erect houses and their barrack. My dad also gave them a bull, which they slaughtered. In brief, this is how Bilpam was founded in the mid-1970s!

For 9 years, my dad continued to support the Anya-Nya II leaders, with all he could possibly provide. When the SPLM/SPLA took over Bilpam in 1983, under the leadership of Dr John Garang de Mabior, and also made it the General Headquarters, my dad and our villages chiefs, continued to support the new liberation movement. He was supporting the administrator of Bilpam at the time, Chegai Atem, with all the material, spiritual and moral support he could mobilize, and realized harmonious coexistence between the liberation army and the communities around Bilpam. 

An interlude! Some of the Anya-Nya II leaders whose names I have mentioned above, or were among the 50 men during the founding ceremony of Bilpam, are still alive today. Actually, I met one of them in Juba in 2020 and he reminded me again about the whole thing. He was so excited!

My dad had a passion for the liberation of South Sudan. Since I was an adolescent I would from time to time hear him in our house chatting with any visiting Anya-Nya II leader, including Benson Kuany Latjor and Gordon Koang Chuol. 

Because he moved his family to Malakal after the Addis Ababa Agreement was signed in 1972, my dad saw by himself the oppression inflicted on South(ern) Sudanese people, and hence he saw the need for total liberation in order to gain freedom or independence. This made him wholeheartedly support any liberation movement fighting for the people.

Currently, and unfortunately, our people or leaders talk of Bilpam, and have even established modern army General Headquarters in the capital, Juba, in its memory, but are shying away from acknowledging or talking about how it was originally established and who founded or co-founded it.

Bilpam is a compound word, which literally means ‘rocky hill.’ Bil means Hill and Pam means Rock or even a mountain. For those who knew Bilpam or Rocky-Hill, it is on hilly ground, with beautiful scenery.

In addition to being the foundational layer of the historical Bilpam we all talk of since 1975, my dad, like many others, was also generous to the two subsequent movements by contributing some of his own family cattle and grain for feedings in Bilpam, and ensuring harmony through the church he established in 1975 in Nyigol/Puldeng (Bilpam area).

History is important! Today, while a very elderly person in his mid-80s, he doesn’t mind whether people acknowledge his past contributions or not. He knows that God does it and will do it in many different ways. He is so humble!

“It is my SPLM,” he once said.

May God grant him good health and add many more years to his life.

The author is a veteran journalist, former press secretary for Dr Riek Machar and spokesperson for SPLM-IO. He can be reached at the email address: jamesdak2018@gmail.com.

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