Oliver Batali Albino (11 November 1935 – 4 January 2020), also sometimes referred to as Oliver Albino Batali, was a South Sudanese politician and civil servant.
Background
Oliver Albino was born on 11 November 1935 in
Yei, South Sudan
Yei is a medium-sized city in South Sudan's southwest. It lies close to the borders of two of the country's trading partners, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is a business hub, attracting traders and customers from all three c ...
. He was a member of the
Makaraka or Adio ethnic group in the Yei –
Maridi
Maridi is a town in South Sudan.
Location
Maridi is located in Maridi County, Western Equatoria State, near the international border between South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This location lies approximately , by road, west of ...
area of
Central Equatoria
Central Equatoria is a state in South Sudan. With an area of , it is the smallest of the original South Sudanese states. Its previous name was Bahr al-Jabal (also Bahr-el-Jebel), named after a tributary of the White Nile that flows through the s ...
, closely related to the
Azande ethnic group. He completed secondary school in
Rumbek
Rumbek ( ar, رمبك) is the capital of Lakes State, central South Sudan, and the former capital of the country.
Location
Rumbek is approximately by road northwest of Juba, the capital and largest city in the country. Its coordinates are a ...
and studied at the
University of Khartoum
The University of Khartoum (U of K) ( ar, جامعة الخرطوم) is a public university located in Khartoum, Sudan. It is the largest and oldest university in Sudan. UofK was founded as Gordon Memorial College in 1902 and established in 195 ...
. In the early 1960s he went in exile and joined the
Anya-Nya resistance movement in Kenya. In 1965 Oliver Albino became part of the
Sudan African National Union
The Sudan African National Union (Juba Arabic: اتحاد الوطنى الافريقى السودان ''Ettihad Al-Wataniy Al-Afriqiy Al-Sudan''; SANU) is a political party formed in 1963 by Saturnino Ohure and William Deng Nhial in Uganda. In th ...
(SANU) in Uganda. In the late 1960s and early 1970s he was a teacher at a secondary school in
Gulu
Gulu is a city in the Northern Region of Uganda. It is the commercial and administrative centre of Gulu District.
The coordinates of the city of Gulu are 2°46'54.0"N 32°17'57.0"E. The distance from Gulu to Kampala, Uganda's capital and large ...
, northern Uganda. During that period he wrote his first book, ''The Sudan: a Southern Viewpoint'' (Oxford University Press, 1970). Oliver Albino was also a member of the
Southern Sudan Liberation Movement
The South Sudan Liberation Movement (SSLM) is an armed group that operates in the Greater Upper Nile (region), Upper Nile Region of South Sudan. The group's creation was announced in November 1999 by people of the Nuer people, Nuer ethnicity who ...
’s delegation to the
Addis Ababa peace talks of 1972. From 1975 – 1978 he was the Minister of Housing and Public Utilities in the
Southern Sudan Regional Government led by
Abel Alier
Abel Alier Kwai (born June 23, 1933) is a South Sudanese politician and judge who served as Vice President of Sudan between 1971 and 1982 and as President of the High Executive Council of the Southern Sudan Autonomous Region between 1972 and 1978. ...
. For only two months in 1985, April - May, Oliver Albino was the Sudanese Minister of Labour in Khartoum.
In 1996 – 1997 Oliver Albino was a fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University. In 2006 Oliver Albino published his second book "Democracy and power in the Sudan: How Decentralization Hurts".
through AuthorHouse UK in Bloomington, USA. After the Independence of South Sudan in July 2011, Oliver Albino was appointed by President
Salva Kiir as a member of the
Council of States.
[ ]
On 4 January 2020, Albino died in
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...
from heart failure.
["Hot in Juba", Veteran Politician Batali Albino Dies https://hotinjuba.com/veteran-politician-batali-albino-dies/; cf. Obituary https://www.everhere.com/us/obituaries/ga/augusta/oliver-batali-albino-10229276]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albino, Oliver Batali
1935 births
South Sudanese civil servants
21st-century South Sudanese politicians
2020 deaths