General Stephen Ogut Obongo, a veteran of two of South Sudan’s liberation wars, was laid to rest with full military honors at the Martyrs’ Cemetery in Juba on Tuesday morning.
Gen. Ogut, a prominent military figure during the Anya-Nya 1 armed struggle and later the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), died on 8 May 2025 at a hospital in Juba after a short illness. He was 87.
Defense Minister Gen. Chol Thon led the army in according the fallen General a military guard of honor. Community members and several officials, including a member of the National Legislature and former police chief, Gen. David Okwier, and Jacob Korok, former deputy minister of Information, were in attendance, among other senior officials.
The deceased’s widow, Apuodho Ojulu Okoth, told Radio Tamazuj that the family felt honored that President Salva Kiir stood with them during their difficult time.
“As a family, we are honored that the president extended us condolences, eulogizing Gen. Ogut as a friend and colleague. The president also accorded Gen. Ogut a burial with military honors in recognition of his service,” she stated. “For this, we are happy because Gen. Ogut died a hero, and his military service and legacy will continue living among us.”
Apuodho, the deputy speaker of the Jonglei State Legislative Assembly, announced that final prayers for the deceased will be held at Juba’s Medan Simba on Saturday, 24 May.
For his part, Gen. David Okwier said his former colleague’s demise was shocking and a national loss.
“General Ogut was instrumental in the formation of Anya-Nya 1 in Upper Nile in the early 1960s while we were still students. I later joined them in 1965, and I remember him as a liberator and a good-hearted man,” he stated. “In the 1990s, as an army general with the government, he joined the SPLA. He fought in both liberation wars. So we are disheartened by his death.”
General Ogut was born in his hometown of Akobo, Jonglei State, in 1938.