Lam Akol
Dr. Lam Akol Ajawin (born 15 July 1950 in Athidhwoi, Upper Nile) is a South Sudanese politician of Kenyan descent. He is the current leader of SPLM for Democratic Change (SPLM-DC), which he founded 6 June 2009. He is a former high-ranking official in the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), and subsequently became the minister of foreign affairs for the Republic of Sudan from September 2005 to October 2007, when the Khartoum government offered the SPLA several other key ministries as part of a peace agreement.
[edit] Life
Formerly a chemical engineering lecturer at the University of Khartoum, with a Ph.D. from the University of London, Dr. Lam Akol joined the SPLA in 1986. In 1991 he joined Riek Machar and Gordon Kong to break from the SPLA and form the SPLA-Nasir. He broke with Riek in 1995, and became chairman of SPLM/A-United. He subsequently signed the Khartoum Peace Agreement with the government in 1997 and was appointed Sudan's Minister of Transportation, a post he held for five years. In 2002 Dr. Akol resigned from the ruling National Congress (NCP), and became a key member of the newly formed opposition Justice Party. He, with most of his militia, rejoined the SPLA in October 2003.[1]
In 2005 Dr. Akol wrote a piece detailing his role as a negotiator on behalf of the late leader of the SPLA, Dr. John Garang, in the initiation of OLS.[1]
In October 2007, the SPLM withdrew from the Khartoum government; it demanded, among other things, that Akol not be removed but kept at his position as Minister of Foreign Affairs, as he was seen as being too close to the regime. But on October 17, President Omar al-Bashir moved Akol to the less important post of Minister of Cabinet Affairs and appointed Deng Alor, a [leading SPLM member and supporter of NCP as well in many other things (politically and ideologically) and had previously been the Minister of Cabinet Affairs] to replace Akol as Foreign Minister; this change was seen as an effort to weaken the SPLM leadership.
[edit] Bibliography
- Lam Akol (2003). SPLM/SPLA: the Nasir Declaration. iUniverse. ISBN 0595284590.
- Lam Akol (2007). Southern Sudan: colonialism, resistance, and autonomy. The Red Sea Press, Inc.. ISBN 156902264X.
[edit] References
- ^ John Young, The South Sudan Defence Forces in the Wake of the Juba Declaration, HSBA Issue Brief No. 2 (October 2006), p. 15
- AKOL, Lam International Who's Who. accessed 3 September 2006.
| Preceded by Mustafa Osman Ismail |
Foreign Minister of Sudan 2005–2007 |
Succeeded by Deng Alor |
