Traditional Leaders Profiles
Paramount Chief Dut Malwal Arop Tong of the Dinka
Agar, Rumbek, Lakes State
‘What is Africa now?
The skin alone is not enough! We need something more to connect
us.’
‘My first job, I worked in vaccinations, health, then
a trader. I was a man of the SSU (Sudan Socialist Union) in
Nimeiri’s time, and held an appointment as amin, responsible
for political activities for 12 years, but I resigned when
the Addis Ababa Agreement was broken by Nimeiri,’ says
Paramount Chief of the Dinka Agar, Dut Malwal Arop Tong.
Chief Dut speaks plainly, but is breathtakingly articulate,
talents that made him an important actor far beyond Rumbek.
‘The breaking of the agreement was not a simple thing,’
he reflects. ‘I returned to trade, I had a pharmacy,
and one lorry for transporting goods. After a while, I joined
the SPLA as a member of the political school. I was the SPLM
representative for liberated areas in the Nuba Mountains,
Blue Nile and the South, and attended NDA (National Democratic
Alliance) meetings in Eritrea.’
But, fundamentally, he does not see himself in political
terms. ‘I am a soldier. I returned from the army in
1985, 1986, to finally succeed my father who died in 1969.
I was called once [before] but refused in favour of my elder
brother. [But] when your people are gathering, it is the rule
of majority, you must accept. In the 90s I was appointed as
a representative to the military courts, and I did a lot of
work there. But I agree, in the position of chief you can
do a lot. If a problem happens in the cattle camp, a young
man can’t do anything. But the next day you can come
to solve that problem.’
He recognises that not all chiefs are fulfilling this role,
and that it is easy to blame others for one’s own failings.
‘It is very important that it is someone with a good
mind. We need a lot of enlightenment. [So often] we are just
talking the government, the government. I cannot blame the
government. I can only blame me. The culture comes from below.
Nobody came to say we didn’t want your cultures. The
system, it needs a big war from us, not from government. They
cannot refuse something coming from the foundations, to work
among the community, among the elders, to return culture to
ourselves. All these things we need to go back and do ourselves.
Even the activities you are doing in your area you can go
to your colleague to have something to unite him. From the
region up to the government, the chiefs must have a voice.
Enemy is waiting to destroy traditional leadership. We are
doing nothing, really [to stop this].’
His concerns are continental in scope. ‘What is Africa
now? The skin alone is not enough! We need something more
to connect us. Divide and rule and someone in the middle doing
something in the middle without being seen…we shall
fight in another way to defeat the enemy. It is not a problem
of Sudan alone. It is a problem of Africa.’
No longer the soldier, in his mission he sounds every inch
the military man, fired by a singular purpose and direction.
To returnees, he says: ‘you are coming to serve with
the people, but you must bring your mind with you.’
More broadly: ‘I’m doing my job. Not fighting
of the gun alone. It is the fighting of the same thing…development.
Khartoum is for him alone? It is for all the Sudanese. People
are fighting amongst the wells.’
His personal aim is simple. ‘[My goal] is to bring
up the children to be more than me. To become leaders of the
south. They can all be.’
