A close relative of the former commissioner of Aweil West County Chok Dut Chok over the weekend confirmed that he passed away aged 44 on Friday night in Juba.
He is survived by two wives and six small children.
According to Ajier Garang, Dut started suffering from ulcers after he was removed from the office in May 2023. He was recently admitted to the Aweil Civil Hospital from where he was referred to Juba for further medication where he died.
The late served in various capacities such as radio operator with the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) among others from 2009 to 2015. He was a second-year college student at the Maper National Teachers Training Institute in Aweil town in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State, South Sudan.
“The former county commissioner of Aweil West County, Hon. Chok Dut Chok, contracted ulcers after he was removed from his official duties and he was admitted first at the Aweil Civil Hospital from which he was referred to Juba for further medication in November 2023 until Friday evening when his death was announced and learned by the family on Saturday morning,” he said.
For his part, the Sectary General of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State, Daniel Akot, said the commissioner was appointed in May 2022 and removed from the office in May 2023. He immediately resigned from the party and joined the ruling SPLM Party.
When asked to explain the personality of the deceased official, Akot confessed that the late was a strong carder who was being prepared for other state and national assignments before he left the SPLM-IO.
“If someone is appointed or given a leadership task on behalf of the party (SPLM-IO), it is the right of the party leadership to recall him or maintain him. When he (Chok) was removed, it was in the plans of the state party leadership to reassign him at state or national levels because most of the institutions like national commissions had not yet been reconstituted,” he stated. “However, the former county commissioner resigned from the opposition party and joined the ruling SPLM party.”