JOHN GARANG
John Garang de Mabior was born in June 23, 1945 in Wanglei village in Bor – South Sudan.
Education: John Garang went to secondary education
in Tanzania. He achieved a B.A. in economics in 1969 from Grinnell
College in Iowa, USA. Garang studied East African agricultural economics
as a Thomas J. Watson Fellow at the University of Dar es Salaam
(UDSM), and received a master’s degree in agricultural economics and a
Ph.D. from Iowa State University.
His Mission: In 1983 he created Sudan People’s
Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M), and fought for more than 22 years to
achieve New Sudan of peace, freedom, equality, justice and prosperity
for all. SPLA/M signed and brought the Comprehensive Peace Agreement
(CPA) under his leadership on 9 January 2005 in Nairobi, Kenya. On 9
July 2005, Garang was sworn in as vice-president and a president of
South Sudan.
His Death: In July 30, 2005, John Garang died in a
helicopter crash. His widow, Rebecca Nyandeng De Mabior took over his
legacy – CPA and called south Sudanese to focus on it, she told south
Sudanese that the pain could disappear, but only if the CPA is fully
implemented. Rebecca Nyandeng promised to continue his work stating and
said “if you kill the lion, you see what the lioness will do”.
