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I STAND BY WHAT I WROTE
BY JAMES OGILO AGOR

June 5, 2007 (Minnesota, U.S.)-- Sometime in March 2007, I put an article on a website in a response to a public statement made early on by a group calling itself, ?Shilluk International Congress? (SIC). Instead of refuting my exposition on the website, some misguided persons in Khartoum, Malakal, and Juba are reported as spreading lies against me, saying that I have joined a group so-called ? abithi ngwony? a vulgar expression coined to mean, ?food-brigade?. Hence, my well-wishers tell me that they are greatly disturbed. They are therefore asking me to show a cause for my intervention.


The public statement under discussion was fully saturated with information calculated to assassinate characters of others. It contained materials disrespectful and scornful to the bereaved family of late Dr. John Garang. It further contained undeserved and unjustified claims and so on. It is therefore erroneous to think that such an exposition should go unchallenged. To do so would send a wrong the message that all the Shilluk people support their stand and style of leadership. They should not be allowed to assume the continued silence of the Shilluk people, as approval of their vulgar language of character assassination of others.
Good examples of their lies and misleading information can be found in the report on the recent Collo Conference in Malakal. It was reported that H.E. Salva Kiir and His Majesty Reth Kwongo Dak were in attendance as the guest of honor and the patron of the Conference respectively. Such statement would imply that the President of the South owes allegiance of the Reth in the way of Prime minister of Britain owes allegiance to the Queen. If both VIPS were in attendance one wonders why was some excerpts of their speeches and their substantial donations did not make hot news in the national media. Worst of all is the alarming story that a large quantity of substantial donations for Kodok Hospital was received by a female nurse, who was acting in the place of a doctor. The story if true would be a disgrace to the whole Upper Nile State especially that the Upper Nile state Minister of health at the time was a person who hails from Kodok.
This story needs immediate investigation and prompt action. The source of these donations and why they were not handed over to the state health authorities and commissioner of Fasahoda County Should be made public. As for gossips against me, if I had become a food- brigade, who from among their leaders, could have remained without becoming one? I always feel embarrassed to talk or praise myself. However, the situation seems to dictate upon me to enlighten my well-wishers with a few cases of my constant and consistent position and performance in southern Sudan civil and political affairs.
(1) You will recall how I was shot into the river Nile in Bor 1965, while leading an Anya-Nya I an expedition to the Congo in order to purchase arms. His Majesty Reth Kwongo was one of those gallant soldiers.
(2) Kodok hospital was included in the 1968/69 supplementary budget on my watch.
(3) The former missionary approved and primary teachers were reinstated, appointed and promoted in 1975 on my watch. The reinstated teachers included late John Otor Nyajwok, Kwol Chol etc. The teachers appointed and promoted while already dead included late Adhok Awejok and Simon Okiec.
(4) In just within two months 1989 as a minister, I managed to obtain a big generator from the British Oxfam for Malakal power house.
(5) You will find in the Sudan law books a case cited Hon James Ogilo and others V. Sudan Government, 1988. The case concerned the abrogation of Addis Ababa Accord. Although we lost the case, the court of appeal could have reversed the decision in our favors. Unfortunately, we did not appeal for reason of financial constraints.
(6) In 1972, I singly made a round about achievement of the unruly boys in Atar intermediate school, when the head master and the other teachers fled the school. We made a triple agreement with students and workers, such that the workers would provide bulls and rams, the students would provide fire-wood, while I would provide fish and lessons. This went one for two months until a contractor was found and the others came back.
(7) In 1973-1974, I combined education planning, information and public relations services for the Repatriation Relief Rehabilitation Resettlement (RRRR) commission for returnees and returnees? students and the NGOs
As act/ director of culture and information Upper Nile area, I was well praised for proper establishment of the directorate in having my staff well-trained and disciplined. In a nutshell, I have always shown real, constant and consistent leadership in my performance both in civil and political affairs of South Sudan. Now that the field is free of weeds and the harvest is ready, why should the sowed reap such expression as ?abithi Ngwony? or food-brigade? Incredible James Ogilo Agor is a southern Sudanese living in the United States; he could be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..