A veteran South Sudanese liberator, Alfred Akwoch has died in Kampala, Uganda following a long illness.

Simon Ongel, the Late’s nephew, confirmed that the veteran SPLA passed on this morning at the Nakasero hospital in Kampala.

“Uncle Alfred died early today [Wednesday] at 4:AM in Kampala, Uganda at Nakasero hospital. He was sick for 21 days and he was admitted there” he said.

“He was born on January 1st, 1945 in Bodh- Wic Rek. He’s among those who started SPLA-M and shot the first bullet in Bor in 1983 with Dr. John Garang.”

Akwoch was 77.

Deceased Alfred Akwoch was born in 1945 in Bodh village of Lul Payam of Fashoda County in Upper Nile State.

He started his basic education at Lul Primary School before going to Obiel Intermediate School in Upper Nile, and years later to Lobiri High School and Makerere University in Uganda.

Akwoch was one of the first batch who joined the College of Military Studies and Political Orientation in Bonga in Ethiopia in 1984.

He held a certificate in public administration from the University of Fort Hare in South Africa, and another certificate from the African College of Wildlife Management in Tanzania.

Akwoch also attended several courses, including a course on leadership qualities.

He served as a Wilderness Protection Police officer in Juba, Rumbek, Yirol, Torit, and Bor, before 1983.

He was a founder of the Department of Wildlife Protection Police in the liberated areas in Southern Sudan before 2005.
After the Comprehensive Agreement in 2005, he was appointed Director General of Wildlife at the Ministry of Wildlife and Tourism.

In 2010, he was promoted to Undersecretary of the Ministry of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism in 2006 during which year he became an adviser for the ministry.

In 2020, Akwoch was appointed as the Minister of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism but was later relieved during the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.

In 2017, the late Alfred Akwoch told Eye Radio in an exclusive interview that, he never regretted what they fought for in the decades of the liberation struggle.

He said the task was for the new generation to nurture peace in South Sudan.

The veteran is survived by several sons and daughters and grandchildren.

Mourners have gathered in his house in the Amarat residential area to pay their condolences.