Santino Manut Akec, who previously served as a commissioner of Jur River County in Western Bahr el Ghazal State, has now ventured into farming.
His passion for agriculture dates back to 1998, during southern Sudan’s civil war, and he continued his farming program even after taking up political office as a county commissioner.
Manut’s farm, located approximately thirty kilometres north of Wau capital in Marial-Bai payam, has become a shining example of agricultural success.
Over the years, he has consistently produced multiple yields, including groundnuts, sorghum, sesame, beans, and maize. His high-quality produce has garnered attention from reputable agriculture organizations like the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO), Hope Agency for Relief and Development (HARD), and World Concern, who regularly purchase from his farm.
This year, Manut scaled up his farming efforts, cultivating a large-scale farm covering an impressive 725 hectares. Out of this vast area, he devoted 510 hectares to groundnut cultivation and 215 hectares to sorghum.
Notably, Manut employs traditional farming techniques and relies on intensive labour rather than mechanized agriculture. During a recent visit to his farm, Manut shared his journey with a group of journalists from Wau town.
“I started my work in 1998 during the rebellion of Kerubino Kouanyin Bol’s, and at that time, I was an Executive Director of Marial-Bai Payam, and HARD organization was buying from me. They also distributed my produce as seeds to the people in Mapel and Achong-Chong,” he said.
Manut’s dedication to agriculture has led him to establish the Rain Power Green Agriculture Cooperative Society, which played a pivotal role in cultivating the extensive 725-hectare farm this year.
Highlighting the impact of his work on the community, Manut emphasized, “This year, we cultivated 510 hectares of groundnuts and 215 hectares of sorghum. I called these journalists to witness so that our people can see and follow the same work of producing food.”
The former commissioner expressed his joy at having Joseph Moses Ogudo of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) present during the farm visit, stating, “I am happy for the presence of Joseph Moses Ogudo of the SPLM. It is good that you accepted the invitation to visit my farm. I invited him so that he can be a witness to what I am doing here on my farm. This is because I want South Sudanese to know the truth about whether the SPLM party has delivered services or not.”
Manut also took the opportunity to address false allegations that were spread when the new state government was being formed, declaring, “When I was the commissioner for Jur River County, some people went to the state leadership and alleged that Santino Manut is now blind and cannot see. This allegation was to prevent me from being reappointed into the new government.”
He continued, “Now that you have toured my farm, you can testify that all those allegations were politically motivated to tarnish my name so that I could not be reappointed into government. I want to reassure all South Sudanese that I, Santino Manut, am not blind. I have full responsibility and administration of my farms. I provide for my employees and take care of their families too.”
Despite the provision of 10,000 tractors distributed to states by President Salva Kiir, Manut lamented that his cooperative society did not receive any. He urged the President to provide tractors to cooperative societies to ease their work.
Manut explained that “When tractors were brought to Western Bahr el Ghazal, we did not receive any. On President Kiir’s recent visit to Wau, he told the people to cultivate. What I want to say is that all my messages have not been reaching the president. If I had an opportunity to meet the president, I would tell him to increase the number of tractors; however, I would remind the president that the tractors are often distributed to people who do not cultivate and those who cultivate their land, like me, do not get any tractor.” Manut revealed.
He added, “I would tell the president that the tractors are only distributed to senior government officials and that is why most of the previous tractors got spoiled without being used for any cultivation.”
Manut concluded by stating, “We want to tell South Sudanese what exactly has the SPLM-led government been doing. After I was removed from office since 2020, if I had been going to different government institutions to falsely accuse officials of not performing their duties, the development you have witnessed today in my farm would never have become a reality.”
In his closing plea to President Kiir, he said, “If the president hears me, we at the Power Green Agriculture Cooperative Society are requesting only one tractor. What affects us with the tractors is the challenge of finding spare parts. Even the single tractor we had from the Agriculture Bank has stopped working, and there are no spare parts. If someone could open a shop for tractor spare parts, it would be very helpful.”
Santino Manut Akec’s remarkable journey from a commissioner to a successful farmer serves as an inspiring story of dedication and perseverance, encouraging others to embrace agriculture as a means to contribute to their community and promote food security.