The Republic of South Sudan lost one of its greatest champions with the passing of Lt. Gen. Daniel Ayual Makoi (January 1, 1952- March 30, 2025). Born in Jamith of Kap locality to Makoi Gueny Adepuou and Dhiethjok Ngong Ajuot, Gen. Ayual grew from a thoughtful young man into a prominent figure whose brilliance, conviction, and heart changed our country forever.
As his mentee, I treasured every moment of guidance Gen. Daniel Ayual Makoi offered to young people. His wisdom did not come in cold lectures but in warm conversations that revealed his insightful understanding of both leadership and humanity. The lessons he taught extended far beyond tactics or strategy, he showed what it means to serve with every breath and to love one’s people completely.
During my exile in Kenya, Gen. Daniel Ayual Makoi became the father figure I desperately needed. He regularly advised me to renounce rebellion, reminding me that I was “the son of a powerful general, a man whose codename was Pedal.” He would look into my eyes and say with conviction, “The legacy of Gen. John Along Ayur endures, and you must not betray it.” With fatherly concern, he assured me that I was only a victim of bad association and that this could be timely reversed. He spoke highly of President Salva Kiir Mayardit. I could recall, in many of our conversations, Gen. Daniel Ayual has been insisting that President Salva Kiir Mayardit was a good leader worthy of all citizens’ support. Our conversations with him revealed not just his loyalty to the country but his investment in my redemption and future.
Gen. Daniel Ayual Makoi’s journey from a dedicated teacher to a freedom fighter symbolizes the very spirit of South Sudan. When darkness threatened to consume our hopes for freedom, he gathered over 225 bright young minds, mainly from Lakes and led them to Ethiopia to join the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). His decision was not a mere recruitment, it was his masterstroke, injecting the movement with the intellectual firepower that together with their many colleagues from elsewhere, eventually helped secure our liberty.
In war and peacetime, Gen. Daniel Ayual Makoi stood rock-solid. While others might have bent to pressure or fear, he remained the steady hand, jointly with his firm colleagues, guiding the struggle forward. His military genius earned him decorations, but it was his genuine love for his countrymen/women that earned him the infinite respect. He was trustworthy. Dr. John Garang de Mabior and President Salva Kiir Mayardit trusted Gen. Ajongkuolbeet. They held him in high regard, as a man endowed with valor, leadership, and following.
Alongside this remarkable man stood the equally formidable Mama Aluel Machek Kuch, whose courage rivals any soldier’s bravery. During the darkest days of conflict, she protected her family with fierce grit and an outstanding resolve, regularly circumnavigating dangerous territories or warzones (she led families from Ethiopia, Kapoeta to Agut-ran, Mapuordit, Madet) to ensure her children’s safety and education. Her silent strength provided the foundation upon which Gen. Daniel Ayual Makoi could build his legacy, making her not just the cornerstone of their family but a heroine in her own right.
In Emmanuel Athiei Ayual, we witness the living incarnation of his father’s finest qualities refined through his excellent character. Emmanuel Athiei possesses that rare gift for healing divisions and creation of circles where honest dialogue thrives and old wounds healed. His compassion reveals itself not in grand gestures but in countless quiet moments of support that transform lives and that he never brags about. He is the definition of selflessness and the purity of heart.
Like his father, Emmanuel Athiei listens to people with complete presence, making everyone who speaks with him feel truly seen and heard. His natural authority stems from a deep spring of duty rather than personal gain. He loves, cares, and respects his siblings. The educational pathways he champions and that he wants for his brothers and sisters reflect his conviction that knowledge liberates minds and opens doorways for all. Those blessed to call him a brother, as I do, know the unshakable nature of his loyalty and the clarity of his insight during troubled times. Emmanuel Athiei shoulders his father’s mantle not with resignation but with reverence while adding his distinctive brilliance to his family’s enduring radiance.
The household Gen. Daniel formed together with Mama Aluel and other devoted mothers including Akoi Ring stands as a proof to excellence in its purest form. Their children exemplify the fruits of proper guidance, extraordinary education, and moral backbone, virtues increasingly precious in today’s world.
Though Gen. Daniel Ayual Makoi’s physical presence has left us, his essence floods our country’s very soil. His name belongs not just in history books but in the living memory of a grateful society. In my moments of doubt, I still hear his confident voice offering wisdom. In South Sudan’s moments of challenge, we would do well to ask, “What would Gen. Daniel Ayual do?”
Like the biblical Daniel, Gen. Daniel Ayual Makoi, through encirclement of the enemy, cutting off from the Torit faction by the Nasir declaration of 1991, was thrown in the den of lions but emerged safe and victorious by faith and wisdom. Gen. Daniel Ayual Makoi was as important as hemoglobin in the red blood cells; without hemoglobin and its oxygen-carrying capacity, the red blood cells would be worthless. Had Gen. Daniel Ayual not contributed to the foundation of the Republic of South Sudan by planting many seeds, from his time as a teacher, recruiting his students into the SPLA, fighting the war with his blood as a renowned militant, a politician and a family man, our country would have be achieved but without a worthy contribution of a meaningful soldier.
Our country has indeed lost one of its finest leaders, I have lost my greatest teacher, Mama Aluel has lost her dearest husband, and Emmanuel Athiei and siblings have lost their beloved father, but what Gen. Daniel Ayual Makoi had planted continues to grow, strong and true, nurtured by the values he lived by and the love he gave so freely.
We salute you, oh father! Remember your family, those who are important to you, and the entire country. Rest in eternal peace.