User:Nhial C.T.

BIOGRAPGHY OF 1ST LT. GEN. PAULINO MATIP NHIAL NYAK 1st Lt. Gen. Paulino Matip Nhial was born at Jul village in the present day Mayom County of Unity State in 1947.In the early years of his adolescence, he became the police officer of Paramount Chief of Bul Nuer Luk Gatluak.

After 1st Sergeant Benson Kuany Latjor and Corporal Bol Kur led a mutiny in 1975, he joined them in Bilpam in Ethiopia where they founded AnyaNya Two to liberate South Sudan from the North. In Bilpam, he successfully commanded A-2 forces against enemy garrisons and was credited for winning battles.

Following the split of South Sudan freedom fighters in 1983 in Ethiopia on the question of the objective of the Movement, he sided with those calling for the total liberation of South Sudan and became A-2 Commander in Bentiu.

When AnyaNya Two under the leadership of Gordon Koang Chol signed Kuanylou Agreement with the SPLM/A in 1987, he didn’t support the merger because separation was not included as part of the agreement. Before the conclusion of the merger, he raised his concerns regarding the objective of the unified Movement and made it clear that he would not support any merger which did not include separation as the primary objective of the liberation struggle.

After Nasir Declaration of 1991 which brought back separation as the principal objective of the struggle, he unconditionally joined SPLM/A-Nasir faction and was made the commander of Western Upper Nile.

After the formation of South Sudan Defense Forces (SSDF)—following the signing of the Khartoum Peace Agreement in 1997—the then President of South Sudan Coordinating Council, Brig. Gen. Gatluak Deng, appointed him as the Chief-of-staff of SSDF in 2002. After the conclusion of the CPA on Jan, 9, 2005, he led a delegation of SSDF to South—South Dialogue in Nairobi to discuss the modalities of reunification with SPLM/A leader, Dr. John Garang de Mabior. The reconciliation conference led to signing of South Sudan Covenant between SSDF and the SPLM/A.

When Dr. John Garang died on July, 30, 2005, he heroically defended and saved thousands of South Sudanese in Khartoum following the clashes between protesters and the police caused by the reactions of the people of South Sudan to the unexpected death of Dr. John Garang.

On Jan, 9, 2006, he signed Juba Declaration with the then Government of South Sudan (GoSS) and integrated 60,000 strong SSDF forces into the SPLA army. He was appointed as the Deputy C-in-C of the SPLA—a position he held until his death on August, 22, 2012. Paulino Matip’s message to the people of South Sudan

One day before his death, 1st Lt. Gen. Paulino Matip told his aides to convey his last message to the people of South Sudan and said, “ I have done my part to bring you freedom and dignity by safeguarding the CPA which culminated into separation. The rest of the journey shall be completed by you the young generation”. By G.B.