Who’s who of the SPLM-Juba faction: Simon Kun Puoc
SPLM, the ruling party of South Sudan, has fractured since the start of a civil war in December 2013. The faction of the party based in Juba remains under the leadership of President Salva Kiir.
The SPLM-Juba faction controls the cabinet, the presidency, a remnant of the SPLA, and several governorships. In a series of articles, Radio Tamazuj profiles some key party members who have remained loyal to Salva Kiir since the start of the crisis.
Factbox: Simon Kun Puoc
Simon Kun Puoc is a South Sudanese politician and the current governor of Upper Nile state. He was previously the first post-war chairperson of the South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission from June 2006 to March 2010 during the transitional period after the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
Born into a Nuer family in the Nasir area on 24 November 1955, he began his elementary education at Awakrial village, close to Kuerengke where his parents lived, then changed to Nasir West primary school in 1960. There he was returned to the primary one level owing to changes in the educational system from English to Arabic as the official language of instruction.
His elementary education was again interrupted in 1963 when war broke out in the area, forcing him and his relatives to cross to Thiakjak in Adura area, Pilual refugee camp before moving to Itang refugee camp in Gambella region, Ethiopia. There he joined Ras Govena junior secondary, which he attended from 1967 to 1969.
Puoc sat for the Ethiopian intermediate school leaving certificate in Gambella and was accepted in Rass Dergie Assala secondary school. He sat for the Ethiopian secondary school leaving certificate at Arusi province in 1973.
He returned to Sudan after the signing of the 1972 Addis Ababa Agreement, which ended Sudan’s first civil war. He was admitted to Khartoum University where he briefly studied economic and social studies from 1973 to 1975.
He briefly left for Ethiopia again in 1975 after a failed military coup attempt led by Sudanese army officer Hassan Hussein, amid fears of insecurity.
Upon returning to Sudan, he was rejected to continue with university studies in 1976 and instead began working as a teacher. He taught at Sobat and Nasir secondary schools and also rose to a position as education inspector in Upper Nile province in the years before the civil war.
During the pre-war years he also undertook a diploma at the Maridi summer institute of languages in present-day Western Equatoria State, and worked as translator and interpreter for British historian Douglas Johnson, who was at that time carrying out academic research among the Nuer.
Puoc joined the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) one year after its inception in 1984. He was trained in 1985 before attending cadet school from 1986 to 1987 at Bunga and Zinc, Ethiopia, obtaining a diploma in military science after which he was commissioned as 2nd lieutenant.
Puoc became a political commissar after completing two years training at Yakatti 2 institute for political studies from 1986 to 1987 at Che’ Gobra. He was later deployed to areas in Central and Western Equatoria states where he served as political commissar and civil-military administrator from 1987 to 1991.
During the 1991 split within the SPLM, Puoc became part of the group led by Riek Machar Teny and Lam Akol Ajawin.
He later reconciled with the SPLM mainstream led by John Garang de Mabior and was appointed by the latter to head a political affairs commission tasked to develop and revise basic documents of the movement including its constitution and manifesto, as well as refining basic rules and regulations.
Puoc served in this role from 2003-2004 until appointed in 2005 as a member of South Sudan’s regional parliament representing Nasir County, a position he held until 2010.
Puoc assumed the governorship of Upper Nile State in 2010 after securing approval to run as the SPLM nominee by the party’s Political Bureau and winning a controversial election against three rival candidates.
Puoc is married with six sons and two daughters.
More in this series:
Who’s who of the SPLM-Juba faction: Nhial Deng Nhial
Who’s who of the SPLM-Juba faction: Kuol Manyang Juuk
Who’s who of the SPLM-Juba faction: Kuel Aguer Kuel
Who’s who of the SPLM-Juba faction: Aleu Ayieny Aleu
Who’s who of the SPLM-Juba faction: James Wani Igga