James Wani Igga

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James Wani Igga
Second Vice President of South Sudan
Assumed office
21 February 2020[1]
PresidentSalva Kiir Mayardit
Preceded byPosition established
2nd Vice President of South Sudan
In office
25 August 2013 – 21 February 2020[1]
PresidentSalva Kiir Mayardit
Preceded byRiek Machar
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Speaker of the National Legislative Assembly
In office
2011 – August 2013
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byManasseh Magok Rundial
Secretary General of the SPLM
Personal details
Born1949 (age 74–75)
Krillo,[2] Juba County, Central Equatoria, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (now South Sudan)
NationalitySouth Sudanese
Political partySPLM
Residence(s)Lobonok, Central Equatoria
Alma materCairo
Military service
AllegianceSPLA (Torit)
RankZonal Commander
CommandsYei

James Wani Igga (born 1949) is a South Sudanese who was the second vice president of South Sudan.[3] He was speaker of the National Legislative Assembly from 2011 to 2013[4] and secretary general of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement.[5]

Early life[edit]

Igga was born in 1949.[6] He is variously described to stem from the Bari[7] and Zande[8] ethnic groups and he is a Roman Catholic. He studied economics in Cairo.[7]

Civil war years[edit]

Igga joined the South Sudanese rebels in 1985, training in Cuba and Ethiopia. He rose rapidly through the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) ranks,[7] and, by 1987, had the rank of major and commanded the Shakus Battalion.[9] The same year, he was Zonal Commander of Central Equatoria and a member of the SPLA High Command.[10] He was reportedly well-respected among civilians.[11]

Igga was one of the SPLA's most senior representatives during negotiations with SPLA-Nasir. He represented Garang as the head of the SPLA-Torit delegation at peace talks in Nairobi in November 1991. In 1993, he accompanied Garang to Nairobi for a peacemaking seminar in June and to Kampala for an IGAD-mediated dialogue with the Nasir faction.[12] Igga had known Lam Akol, one of the Nasir leaders, since their time together in the Cuban training camp.[8]

As chairman of the SPLM Political Affairs Commission, Igga established the Technical Committee of Intellectuals in February 2000. This committee was tasked with planning the civil administration of Southern Sudan.[13]

Post-war politics[edit]

Following the 2005 signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement establishing the autonomy of Southern Sudan, Igga was in charge of changing the SPLM from an insurgent strategic leadership to a political party. He was chosen as the speaker of Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly in 2005,[14] and he continued in that office until independence in 2011. In addition, he was appointed caretaker governor of Upper Nile State for the transitional period.[13]

Igga read out the proclamation of independence when the two Sudans divided.[7] He continued as the legislative speaker of the lower house from 2011 to 2013.[15]

President Salva Kiir appointed Igga as vice president on 23 August 2013 to replace Riek Machar, who he had dismissed a month previously. He was required to resign as speaker.[16] Igga was unanimously confirmed by the National Assembly on 26 August.[17]

On 30 May 2020, Igga tested positive for COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Sudan.[18]

On 19 August 2020, six of Igga's bodyguards were killed in a road ambush by National Salvation Front rebels in Igga's home town of Lobonok. He was not with those bodyguards at the time.[19]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "President Kiir appoint Machar FVP ahead of South Sudan new cabinet". Sudan Tribune. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2020.
  2. ^ "Who is James Wanni Igga?". Sudan Tribune. 25 August 2013. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  3. ^ "James Wani Igga appointed South Sudan vice-president". BBC News. 23 August 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  4. ^ "SPLM maintains popularity in the whole country-Igga". Sudan Tribune. 23 December 2009. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  5. ^ Fisher, Jonah (20 April 2005). "Southern Sudan's frontline town". BBC News. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  6. ^ "Biography of H.E. Dr. James Wani Igga (PhD)". South Sudan Presidency.
  7. ^ a b c d "South Sudan president names James Wani Igga as deputy: state radio". Google News. AFPV. 23 August 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2013.[dead link]
  8. ^ a b Sesana, Renato Kizito (2006). I am a Nuba. Nairobi: Paulines Publications Africa. ISBN 9966081798.
  9. ^ Wöndu, Steven (2011). From bush to Bush : journey to liberty in South Sudan. Nairobi, Kenya: Kenway Publications. ISBN 9966257942.
  10. ^ Fardon, Richard; Furniss, Graham (2000). African broadcast cultures : radio in transition. Oxford: Currey [u.a.] ISBN 0275970604.
  11. ^ Johnson, Douglas H. (2011). The root causes of Sudan's civil wars : peace or truce (Rev. ed.). Woodbridge, Suffolk: James Currey. ISBN 978-1847010292.
  12. ^ Akol, Lam (2003). SPLM/SPLA : the Nasir Declaration. New York: iUniverse, Inc. ISBN 0595284590.
  13. ^ a b Deng, Lual A. (2013). Power of creative reasoning : the ideas and vision of John Garang. Bloomingdale, Indiana: iUnivers. ISBN 978-1475960280.
  14. ^ Badiey, Naseem (2014). The State of Post-conflict Reconstruction: Land, Urban Development and State-building in Juba, Southern Sudan. ISBN 9781847010940 – via Google Books.
  15. ^ Johnson, Hilde F. (9 June 2016). South Sudan: The Untold Story from Independence to the Civil War. ISBN 9781786720054 – via Google Books.
  16. ^ "Kiir appoints speaker James Wani Igga as new vice-president". Sudan Tribune. 23 August 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  17. ^ "S. Sudan lawmakers unanimously endorse Wani Igga as new VP". Sudan Tribune. 26 August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  18. ^ "VP Igga tests positive for COVID-19". Radio Tamazuj. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  19. ^ "Six bodyguards of VP Igga killed in road ambush". Radio Tamazuj. Retrieved 22 August 2020.


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