Tributes in living Memory of Maj. Gen. David Majur Dak Thel who was killed in Nasir
Martyr/Maj. Gen. David Majur Dak
By Deng Awur Wenyin, Juba, South Sudan
This heroic general was killed in Nasir, Upper Nile State, on March 7th 2025. The official version is that he was killed by the White Army (Jech Maboor), a militia affiliated to the Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement in Opposition (SPLA/M-IO).
I didn’t know the late general before but what attracted my attention to him was his name. Because of the name, I thought he might have been from Lakes State, which is where I come from. You know, a person’s name can give the reader or listener an idea of where that person comes from.
But, when I made enquiries, I was informed that the late hero was from Hol, a section of the Jieeng (Dinka) of Jonglei State (former Bor District). The Hol people inhabit Duk area, known as Duk Padiet. There is another neighboring area, which is also called Duk, known as Duk Payuel. The section inhabiting that area is called Nyarweng. So there are two Duks, one for Hol, and the other one for Nyarweng. Because of the Arabic influence, the two Duks have popularly become known as “Dukein,” viz., two Duks. If the Jieng language had its way, the two Duks could have been known as “Duk ka rou” or “Duok ka rou.” The South Sudan indigenous languages are enshrined in the Constitution but with no practical bearing.
What prompted me to write this piece is what I heard the late hero had said: that he should be the last person to be evacuated; that he cannot leave his soldiers in danger and he escapes for safety. That is the leadership people talk about. When he was to come last, the traitors and tribally intoxicated people, killed him.
What the late Maj. Gen. David Majur Dak did brought to my mind what I heard some years ago. The late Brigadier General Stephen Mayom Dhieu used to tell me some of their lessons in the Sudan Military College in the late 1960s. The old battles fought in Europe and elsewhere, used to be taught to them as precedents. (By the way, the late Stephen was one of the officers in the mid 1970s who taught and trained those of President Salva Kiir in Khartoum at Jebel Aulia Military area, to be officers.) In one of the battles, one side was defeated and two officers were captured. The two officers were ordered by the conquering enemy force to talk about their army. One of those two officers was afraid that his colleague was going to expose all the secrets. So he pulled aside the commanding officer and said to him: “If you want the secrets of our army, you first kill my colleague, because he won’t allow me to tell you all the things about our army.” “Simple,” said the commanding officer. So that officer was killed.
Confidently, the commanding officer told the officer to say everything about their army. Having made sure that his colleague has in fact been killed, he said: “I have nothing to tell you.” Then he was also killed and the enemy didn’t get the secrets.
If South Sudan is going to have a military college in its strict sense, the bravery and heroism of the late Maj. Gen. David Majur Dak should be taught to the officers. What is important is that he has joined those of Dr John Garang, William Deng Nhial, Fr Saturnino Lohure and of course the long list of the martyrs. Nobody will be able to pull down the FLAG. Its pole is being fed fat by the blood of martyrs. I pray to Nhialic Madhol (God the Almighty) to let his soul rest in peace.
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