South Sudan’s opposition leader Riek Machar issued a statement extending his condolence message on the death of Kawac Makuei Mayar, a war veteran and one of the founding commanders of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in 1983.

Machar, according to the statement dated July 19, said he and his group have learned the death of Kawac Makuei with sadness, describing the deceased as a committed nationalist who fought for self-determination and independence of South Sudan.

“He shall also be remembered for his courage, honesty and integrity. Above all, he was a friendly person. He shall be missed not only by his family but all. He was a towering figure in the political life of South Sudan that deserves state burial in recognition of his role,” partly reads Machar’s statement.

Kawac died on Saturday morning in Juba after returning from a medical trip to Cairo, Egypt, but the cause of his death remains unclear .The family members have confirmed he died but did not release the detail to the public.

Kawac Makuei Mayar Kawac emerged as a towering figure after trekking to the bushes to participate in the first, second and third civil wars as a leader in the Anyanya One during the first Sudanese civil war which started in 1955 before Sudan independence in 1956.

After the first war ended in 1972 with the signing of the peace agreement in Addis Ababa, Kawac later returned to the bush again in 1983 when peace could not meet the expectations of South Sudanese and became one of the founding members of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).

He trekked with thousands of recruits from Bahr el Ghazal to make the long walk to Ethiopia in 1986.  Kawac fell out with late John Garang, founding leader of the SPLM in September 1984 over the death of Benjamin Bol Akok, a former deputy parliamentary speaker in the regional government in Juba which came into existence after the signing of the 1972 peace. 

Kawac was among southern leaders who signed the Khartoum peace agreement of 1997 representing the Bahr al-Ghazal Independence Movement for Southern Sudan. He was appointed as the governor of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State as part of the provisions of the Khartoum peace agreement.

Kawac Makuei was appointed as the chairperson of the Southern Sudan War Veterans Commission by the government of South Sudan after 2005.  In February 2010, he declared his candidacy for governor of Northern Bahr el Ghazal on the ticket of the United Democratic Salvation Front platform.

In the April 2010 election, Paul Malong Awan Anei of the SPLM got 162,209, General Dau Aturjong Nyuol won 84,452 and Kawac Makuei Kawac trailed with 9,854 votes.