Samson Lukare Kwaje (July 23, 1945 - August 1, 2010) was a South Sudanese politician and civil servant.
Background
Samson Kwaje was a senior member of the
Sudan People's Liberation Movement
The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM; ar, الحركة الشعبية لتحرير السودان, ''Al-Ḥarakat ash-Shaʿbiyyat liTaḥrīr as-Sūdān'') is a political party in South Sudan. It was initially founded as the political w ...
's Political Bureau, the highest political organ of the former rebel movement that now governs
Southern Sudan
South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Con ...
. Before joining the SPLM in early 1990s, he held the position of Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture from 1983 - 1986, and from 1986 - 1989 he was Minister of Finance and Economic Planning in the Equatoria Regional Government based in Juba. From 1995 to 2004, Samson Kwaje was put in charge of information desk in the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army and became its official spokesperson. He also played a great role during the Naivasha peace talks with the then Government of Sudan which led to the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005. He became a signatory to CPA when he signed in May 2004 the Power Sharing Protocol in Naivasha,
Kenya
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. In 2005 during the formation of the Government of Southern Sudan, Samson Kwaje was appointed the first Minister of Information and Broadcasting. In 2008 he became the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry during a reshuffle. Samson Kwaje had been holding the post even after the elections when the government was formed. Samson Kwaje was the head of the presidential campaign team for the SPLM Chairman and current President, Salva Kiir.
Born in the mid 1940s, Kwaje obtained his master's degree in Agriculture (Plant Pathology) at
Makerere University
Makerere University, Kampala (; Mak) is Uganda's largest and oldest institution of higher learning, first established as a technical school in 1922. It became an independent national university in 1970. Today, Makerere University is composed of n ...
in
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...
West Virginia University
West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State Coll ...
in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA in 1979. Kwaje was from the Pojulu Tribe from Central Equatoria. On Sunday November 15, 2009 an ambush on his vehicle outside Juba, in Central Equatoria State, resulting from a localized political issue, wounded Kwaje and killed five others. Kwaje died after three weeks in intensive care at the Aga Khan Hospital in
Nairobi
Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...
,
Kenya
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, on Sunday 1 August 2010.
Kwaje left behind two spouses and seven children."Rest in Peace Dr. Samson Lukare Kwaje", a publication of the Office of GOSS President, 2010