When I came to Juba in September of 2011, South Sudan was already two months old in her independence. But already there was an economic hiccup. People were on the verge of austerity measures! So I spent two months walking across Juba. I started walking to Wazarat, then Juba town, then back to Wazarat, then onto UNMiSS, all the while looking for a job, reading from board to board. I could not even afford a newspaper back then. The Citizen newspaper was two SSP. That was expensive. Two South Sudan Pounds was two bottles of water. So, I did what we used to call ‘opportunity costing’ in high school - instead of foregoing water, I bought and carried my bottle of water and read from board to board. Eventually good tidings came.
In November 2011, Brigadier General Maduot Parek was appointed Director General. That, to the Akop boys, was a lul - an opportunity! I received calls from my family members suggesting that I submit my CV to the Brigadier immediately. A week after he was appointed, I went to his house and submitted my papers. I had never met Brigadier Maduot before, although I lived in Uganda with his younger brother, Kuot Parek Machar, a very nice, softly spoken gentleman who later went to Australia. I looked at Brigadier Maduot closely. I saw his well-shaped teeth and glistening forehead. He was brown and sounded informed.He liked to laugh a lot. Later I learned that before he was appointed Director General, he was studying law in Great Britain. He was pleased to receive my papers. But then, out of nowhere, he asked me a question. “Bäng duön Adokthok dhië cäk puöl?” For those who don't speak Dinka, it means, “That Stubbornness of Adokthok people, have you guys left it?”
First, I was taken aback. But then, when he smiled, I realized he was joking. So, I told him that we left the bäng daan Adokthok people in the village because, here in Juba town, life was beating us into submission. We laughed heartily. It is good to be homies! I was actually very proud that I could make him aware of the hard-headed people called Adokthok in ApukPadoc in Akop Centre in Tonj North County.
Some two years later, I asked Auntie Loldit, my father's maternal aunt, if she had ever been to the Adokthok area or Akop Centre. As usual, Loldit, a brown and exceptionally beautiful older woman, laughed gently and said that when she was a young girl, they had to drive their cows away from the Akop area in a hurry because their dog had fought the goat of an Adokthok man in our village. That spoke volumes! The fear was evident.
After sitting the national police entry examination, I scored position 11. We thought that after the police entry examinations, we would be immediately employed by the immigration service. We were hungry. We even wanted to marry. But Brigadier Maduot released a note saying that we would first be driven to Rajaf for police training and cadetship. So it was going to be a long wait.
I decided to look for employment. I got a job as Director of Administration with an Indian Company. I was earning 2500 South Sudan Pounds. The police deployment can wait, I told myself. But this was not to be the case.
At the request of the then Inspector General of Police, Gen. Acuil Tito Madut, who said he needed a linguist in his office because he was tired of rewriting letters, Brigadier Maduot went through everyone’s files and singled me out. Not because I was the best, though. I’d happened to have studied English Language and Literature, and I was already an opinion writer with The Citizen newspaper. I was also well mannered. So, based on our brief interactions, and recommendations from my other relatives like Peter Majok Mou, I got the job.
Brigadier Maduot took me to Gen. Tito Acuil Madut. Brigadier Maduot then advised me to behave myself because Acuildit was a leader and an elder. He said that I should not care about money, only about growth in government. I was immediately appointed Technical Sergeant, and my salary dropped to 680 South Sudan Pounds. Later that evening, I asked Brigadier Maduot, “What about my rent? Who will pay for my rent?” The salary was certainly a drop in the ocean of a spoiled kid of East Africa with so many social needs to meet.
Seven months later, I won a prestigious scholarship to the UK - the Chevening Scholarship. So Gen. Tito Acuil Madut gave me permission to go study in the United Kingdom. When I returned from the UK in September 2013, Gen. Tito Acuildit was fired in a July Decree, which fired everybody, including Dr. Riek Machar.
So, I went straight to Maduot Parek. I found him seated in his office, looking at an ancient diary with notes from his military intelligence training in the bush. I showed my presence with a salute. He looked up and said, “Welcome back from the UK.” I told him that I was reporting back to work. Gen. Maduot was promoted to the rank of a major general and was still the director general of the Directorate of Nationality, Passports, and DNPI. He gave me 500 South Sudan pounds and told me to go home to rest. The resting took three months.
In November, Gen. Acuildit was appointed State Minister of Local Government by the then Governor, Nyadeng Malek Dielic. Acuildit took me with him. I stayed with him and worked on his local government framework. I remember Acuildit for many things because he was like a father to me. He sheltered me from those who wished to harm me, ensured my uninterrupted promotion in the police service, mentored me on how the system of government works, and was an integral part of my establishment and growth. When I eloped with my wife, he sheltered me for three days. The girl’s family wanted to beat me and take my wife away, but still they respected his house. As custom would have it, the wife was dressed up and returned peacefully to her parents. He told me that a child must be protected from fire even when he or she is grown. When I paid the dowry of my wife (about 140 heads of cattle), Gen. Acuildit offered ten cows selected from his cattle camp in Kuajok as part of the dowry. “These cows are for Tong because he is your agemate,” he said. “I am building my friendship with you for the sake of my son Tong.”.
