South Sudan minister Gen. Pieng takes oath as EA parliament member
“During the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), Gen. Pieng Deng was a member of Sudanese Ceasefire Political Commission and the Joint Defense Board. And also served on the SPLA negotiating team for security arrangement.
Gen. Deng was appointed last month as South Sudan’s Minister in charge of East African Community (EAC) Affairs. (Courtesy Photo)
KAMPALA - Gen. Pieng Deng Kuol has officially been sworn in as a Member of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA). This transpired during the Assembly’s plenary sitting on December 3, 2025, in Kampala city.
Rule 5(4) of EALA’s Rules of Procedure states that a member shall not sit or vote in the Assembly before taking the Oath or Affirmation of Allegiance to the Treaty.
He was appointed last month as South Sudan’s Minister in charge of East African Community (EAC) Affairs.
Gen. Deng has a master’s in security and strategic studies from the University of Juba, a postgraduate diploma in economic principles from the University of London, a diploma in military science and instruction from the SPLA Officers College, and a bachelor’s in electrical engineering.
Previously, he served as Inspector General of the South Sudan Police Service from 2013 to 2016 and as deputy chief of defence forces from 2009 to 2013. Pieng was also director of operations for SPLA from 2005 till 2009.
According to Gideon Thoar Gatpan, one of South Sudan’s EALA representatives, the former also played a key role in South Sudan’s independence struggle and subsequent political settlement.
“During the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), Gen. Pieng Deng was a member of Sudanese Ceasefire Political Commission and the Joint Defense Board. And also served on the SPLA negotiating team for security arrangement.
Gen. Kuol during our liberation time was the commander of the headquarters of SPLA and also the administrator of refugees and the Red Army which I am part of,” Gatpan said.
The Red Army is the equivalent of Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) child soldiers commonly known as Kadogo.
On the other hand, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was a landmark peace deal signed in 2005 that ended the Second Sudanese Civil War.
It was negotiated between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) and established a power-sharing framework, wealth-sharing, and set a timetable for Southern Sudan to hold a self-determination referendum in 2011.