Stephen Buoy or Buay Rolnyang Kai, alias Jamus, is a South Sudanese veteran serviceman, nationalist, and liberation stalwart. The name Buay means bright light in his native Nuer language (Thuok Naath). Interestingly, his nickname, Jamus, was derived from the Renk First Infantry Division, which he commanded bravely before he was axed and purged from the top echelons of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).
Buay’s formative years were shaped by the relentless struggle against social injustice, inequalities, and open oppression perpetuated by the postcolonial and present regime. Like many of his peers, Buay has been actively involved in military combat and combative politics from the 1980s to date. He is an astute soldier who started his active military service in the signal corps. As demonstrated herein, he has earned his military accolades meritoriously.
On 19 January 2025, Buay was unanimously endorsed and appointed the Chief of General Staff and the fourth principal of the progressive military bloc dubbed United People’s Alliance (UPA) by virtue of the fact that he was the founding Chairman and Commander-in-Chief of the South Sudan People’s Movement and Army (SSPM/A).
Gen. Buay is a proven military leader of our times. Apart from his extensive military experience and enduring commitment to his professional duty, the secret behind his continued promotion is that he is a workaholic and avid reader. And as the saying goes, “Smart people read, readers are leaders.”
As South Sudan approaches its 14th independence anniversary, with bombs and bullets falling on innocent children and women, with Panyijiar County being the latest casualty, Buay is cautiously eyeing a return to the trenches to lead the looming foray and political onslaught to end the anarchy imposed by the incompetent regime of the day.
Like the meaning of his name, Buay is a guiding light, not just in his extended family but in the entire country, owing to his past and present contributions, which resulted in the attainment of our political independence on 9th July 2011.
In contrast, as I slightly touched on in the aforementioned paragraph, he became the first senior army commander in the history of the SPLA and in the First Infantry Division, to be dismissed and demoted from the rank of General to civilian on unclear political grounds.
Buay hails from an extended family, with four mothers, one father, and many siblings. Coincidentally, just like his mother and matriarch, who was the last and fourth wife to his father, Buay was also the youngest and the last-born son to his late father, who passed away when he was only five years old. Fortunately, he is one of the surviving South Sudanese who were orphaned, and he lived a “life without parents” as was proudly coined by the Catholic University of South Sudan student Athieng Khon Khon.
Buay was born in the village on 15th November 1968 in Bieh Nyang payam, Mayom County of Unity State, four years before the signing of the Haile Sellasie brokered Addis Ababa Agreement of 1972, which ushered in the first political autonomy for the African people of Southern Sudan.
His beloved biological mother, Mama Achol Mayen Majak, hailed from the Dinka Community of Turalei County, Warrap state. After the untimely death of his father, his mother took him to Akotong village in present-day Warrap State, where he stayed until his mother died a few years later, leaving him under the care of his maternal grandmother.
In 1979, Buay enrolled in Ajak Kuac Primary School in Akotong Village. When his step brothers learnt that his mother had passed away, they took him back to Mayom County, where he resumed his studies in class three at Wangkei Primary School.
In 1984, 15-year-old Buay briefly joined SPLM/SPLA before switching to the Anyanya Two Movement under the command of Captain Paulino Matip Nhial, who later became Deputy Commander-in-Chief of SPLA in 2006.
In the same year, Matip released him to go to school in Khartoum, Sudan, where he was admitted to Comboni Primary School and Nadi El Umaal Khartoum Bari. After completing primary school, he was admitted to St. Augustine Seminary. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Buay made a bold decision to abandon the seminary and the Journey to the priesthood altogether, and he returned to Southern Sudan to further his career as a soldier. If Buay had not made a U-turn, he could be somewhere serving as a catholic priest.
In 1991, during and after the SPLM/SPLA split, Buay sided with Dr. Riek Machar Teny, Dr. Lam Akol, and Gen. Gordon Koang Chuol, and together they established the SPLM-United alias SPLM-Nasir Faction, which later became the Southern Sudan Independent Movement/Army (SSIM/A).
In December 1992, Buay was transferred to the Office of the Chairman, Dr. Riek Machar, where he served as a senior signals officer. Notably, he became Machar’s point man and political confidant. Buay rose fast through the ranks and was promoted to 1st Lieutenant and later, Captain. In December 1992, he was sent to train as a military intelligence officer, first in Ethiopia, then in Kenya. Thereafter, he was redeployed in the Maiwut as a General Intelligence Service Officer under the area commander, General Kwong Danhier Gatluak, who recently doubled as SPLM Party Deputy Secretary General and Acting Secretary General.
In May 1996, after the SPLM-Nasir Faction changed its name to the Southern Sudan Defence Forces (SSDF) and Dr. Machar promoted Captain Buay to the rank of Alternate Commander. The following year, in September 1997, shortly after the signing of the Khartoum Peace Agreement, which made Dr. Machar the President of the Southern Sudan Coordinating Council, a bitter dispute emerged between Dr. Machar and General Matip over the appointment of the Unity State governor. The former fronted Taban Deng Gai, the current vice president in charge of the infrastructure cluster, to be the governor, while the latter preferred Commander Lily Lily Kuol from Matip’s home turf of Mayom County.
With this antagonism, a violent conflict erupted in Unity State. Consequently, Buay defected from SSIM/A, and together with General Matip, they formed the South Sudan United Movement (SSUM).
While in SSUM, it did not take long before another irreconcilable disagreement emerged, pitting Buay against General Peter Gatdet Yak and General Al-Tayip Gatluak over the peace mission that General Buay took to the Bahr El Ghazal region in 1997.
Nonetheless, when this second political disagreement escalated to the point where the duo wanted to arrest Buay, General Matip, who was then in Khartoum, unsuccessfully mediated peace between the trio. As a result, General Buay decided again to defect and desert the SSUM to escape Gatdet’s and Thayip’s imminent and inevitable wrath.
On 10 August 1998, he rejoined the SPLM/SPLA led by Dr. Garang. On 1 October 1998, Buay and his loyalists were integrated with their full military ranks. Buay was then deployed to command the SPLA forces around the Twic areas of Thiet and Yieth Kuel in Bahr El Ghazal under Gen. Salva Kiir, now President of South Sudan, then serving as overall commander of SPLA 3rd Front.
In 2000, Buay was selected and sent for security training at the Institute of Strategic Studies in Lasu near Yei. From 2003 to 2005, Buay was further alleviated and assigned to command the SPLA in Unity State. SPLM/A leader Dr. John Garang died twenty-one days after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) on 30 July 2011.
In 2006, when General Paulino Matip decided to join the SPLM/SPLA following the untimely demise of Dr. Garang, he gave a condition to then SPLA Chief of Staff General Oyai Deng Ajak that General Buay must be removed as commander of Unity State before he could join the SPLA. General Matip and his close associates had unfounded fears, given the way they forced Buay out of SSUM in 1997.
In compliance with Matip’s condition and demand, General Buay was transferred to Kapoeta in Eastern Equatoria State, where he later became the commander of the SPLA’s 21st Infantry Independent Brigade up to 2007.
Immediately after Buay’s placement and assignment in Kapoeta Town, he was recalled and redeployed in the capital, Juba, to establish both the SPLA Military Police and Commando units, which he did exceptionally.
While he was busy establishing the military police in Juba, he got time to enroll and study for his Bachelor’s Degree in Management from Kyambogo University in Uganda between 2010 to 2014.
In 2013, after the civil war erupted in Juba, he was redeployed as a deputy commander of the 1st Infantry Division in Renk County in Upper Nile State. Amid the deadly 2013 conflict, he was confirmed as the commander of the 1st Infantry Division, replacing his former boss, Gen. Angelo Jongkuc, who was deemed to be ‘inept’ and unable to fight against the massive SPLM-IO Forces led by Dr. Riek Machar Teny.
At the same time, General Buay was recalled to the SPLA Headquarters in Juba after his bitter squabble with the former Melut County commissioner. After spending some time in Juba, Buay was transferred to Unity State as a 4th Infantry Division commander and served for three years during the period of the now defunct 32 states.
In 2017, Buay was hurriedly recalled to SPLA Headquarters in Juba. However, on his arrival in Juba, he was apprehended and arrested over a mild argument pitting his bodyguards against those of the then Northern Liech Governor, Dr. Joseph Manytuil. By then, Buay and Manytuil were not on good terms owing to their past political differences. In late 2017, Buay was released before his deployment as the Director General of Procurement in the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs. After his short stint at the defence ministry, Buay was reassigned and sent for the second time to command the 4th Infantry Division in Unity State. In the same year, he was recalled and redeployed to command the SPLA 5th Infantry Division in Wau.
On 22 May 2018, Buay was redeployed in the SPLA Headquarters as the director of military organization. However, before he could return to the headquarters to take up his new assignment, he requested to visit his family in Mayom County and was given permission. A few days after he arrived in Mayom Town, he was attacked and captured by the infamous Special Forces under the command of General Mathew Puljang Top on instructions from SPLA headquarters. On 31 May 2018, Buay was arrested on allegations that he wanted to rebel and join the South Sudan United Front/Army (SSUF/A) led by former SPLA Chief of Staff General Paul Malong Awan. Buay was detained incommunicado for one year before he was investigated and tried by a court martial. The six-man tribunal pronounced its verdict that dismissed him from the army and demoted him from the rank of general to a civilian.
Buay disagreed with the court but refused to appeal by virtue of the fact that the court was going to be interfered with and influenced by his nemeses, who were still occupying senior positions in President Kiir’s regime. Buay’s painful demotion and dismissal from the SPLA were publicly executed and shown live on the state-owned SSBC Television. That evening, he humbly walked home with his head down.
During his detention in Juba, Buay penned his prison memoir titled Trails of Betrayals in South Sudan’s Power Struggle. This was followed by his second book titled Nuer History.
On 1 May 2021, Buay left Juba for Nairobi, Kenya, where he joined the South Sudan United Front/Army (SSUF/A) led by former Chief of General Staff General Paul Malong Awan, also known as King Paul. While in SSUF/A, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and appointed a secretary for defense. Before the end of May 2021, Buay resigned from SSUF/A after he learnt that SSUF/A was silently planning to join the government, contrary to his desires. In the same month, he formed the South Sudan People’s Movement/Army (SSPM/A) to fight for regime change, which he is still pursuing.
On 7 May 2024, Buay was invited by Kenyan President Dr. William Samoei Ruto to participate in the High-level Mediation for South Sudan, alias Tumaini Peace Initiative, funded and co-mediated by Kenya, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and Community Sant’Egido. On 9 January 2025, after the Tumaini talks stalled, he co-founded the United People’s Alliance (UPA), a military and political umbrella that comprises the South Sudan People’s Movement/Army (SSPM/A), chaired by General Buay, the Real Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (Real-SPLM), chaired by General Pagan Amum, South Sudan United Front/Army (SSUF/A) led by General Paul Malong, and National Salvation Front-Revolutionary Command Council (NAS-RCC), chaired by General Mario Laku Thomas. On 1 January 2025, after the establishment of UPA, Buay was promoted to the rank of a General by UPA Interim Chairman and Commander-in-Chief Gen. Pagan Amum OKiech.
They say history repeats itself. As South Sudan goes back to square one in search of sustainable peace and democracy, the gallant general, Stephen Buay, has gone back to the trenches to free and liberate South Sudan from the dirty hands of a few greenhorn and greedy political cabals that have captured the state.
From this abridged biography, General Stephen Buay is capable and equal to the task that lies ahead. Unlike his early days, when he started the liberation struggle as a child soldier from secondary and seminary school, General Buay is embarking on an arduous but familiar journey to liberate South Sudan as an experienced and skillful army general.
More often than seldom, our impoverished South Sudanese, especially the downtrodden, whose hopes were diverted or delayed due to the denial of the Tumaini Initiative, believed that General Buay would bring total change to South Sudan. Stephen Buay is a strong man whose power is based on and founded in his belief in unity in diversity. As the saying goes, “people united can never be defeated.”
Finally, as Buay steps forward, he is striving for the total unity of all South Sudanese as the only way and means, and the only way forward, in our quest to expedite the political change that our country desires.
The writer is a lawyer and criminologist by profession and is a former delegate to the Tumaini Peace Initiative who represented the South Sudan People’s Movement (SSPM) as its chairperson for legal and constitutional affairs. He was also a former chairperson of the South Sudan Liech Community and the former chairperson of the South Sudan Students’ Association in Kenya. He can be reached via eligodakb@yahoo.com.
The views expressed in ‘opinion’ articles published by Radio Tamazuj are solely those of the writer. The veracity of any claims made is the responsibility of the author, not Radio Tamazuj.