By Manas Konyi
02 June 2010 - Maku fell ill and was rushed to Surrey Memorial Hospital where he was diagnosed with liver cancer which had spread to the rest of his body. He passed away in the morning of May 21st 2010.
The late Dominic Woja Maku
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Maku served as a
Gurtong correspondent and contributed in
Sudan tribune, South Sudan Nation and wrote two books.
One of his books is titled Okumu's Journey: A Sudanese Boy's Narrative and the other is titled Dark Feathers Along the River Nile. These books can be accessed at amazon.com for anybody who is interested in buying.
Maku was born in 1976, a local peasant child. He was raised in that environment, but he spent most of his life in refugee camps in Uganda, East Africa. His parents fled Kajo-Kaji in Southern Sudan during Anya-Nya 1 civil war in the Sudan in 1956 and settled in the north-western Madi area of Uganda, where Maku was born and raised. In 1979, when the war against Idi Amin, the former Uganda president, raged, Maku’s family had to cross back home to Kajo-Kaji, only to return to Uganda because of the Sudan People Liberation Army(SPLA) war launched in 1983. Maku lived and went to School in Uganda during the war times.
He [was undertaking] his doctorate in educational leadership and policy at the University of British Columbia in Canada. (Maku, D. W. Okumu's Journey; A Sudanese Refugee Boy's Narrative. Publish America, 2008).
His father Kawunda Maku was a local tailor. His mother, Ana Pita, was a house wife who played a crucial role in raising Dominic and his two sisters. Maku finished his primary school in Limi and Joined Leikor Intermediate School in Kajo Keji, South Sudan.
In late1980s, Dominic Woja Maku joined the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement/Army and played a crucial role in the people’s movement.
He was charged with various leadership responsibilities and raised to a rank of a 1st Lt and Alternate Commander. He served the (SPLM) in several tasks including communication and political mobilisation among others.
In 1993 Maku joined to further his education at Obongi Secondary School and Arua Academy in Uganda. Thereafter, he focused on educating refuges and help build schools for Sudanese Refugees in Uganda.
Maku immigrated to Canada with his wife and family in 1998 and settled in Saskatchewan where he earned his Bachelors degree and graduate degree.
In 2007, Maku joined the University of British Colombia (UBC) to undertake doctorate studies in Educational Leadership and policy.
He had been instrumental in many of South Sudanese fora including paranet (local forum for the people of Kajo Keji), SPLM Forum and SPLM-DC among others.
On June 26 2009, Dominic Woja Maku joined and become one of the founding fathers of SPLM-DC. He initially spearheaded the party in a position of Secretary General in Canada. His leadership skills earned him an appointment to become the SPLM-DC representative in Canada whose duties among others are to expand the SPLM-DC membership as well as to promote the party's vision and interest in Canada.
Maku had very strong and positive political ambitions. He had planned to encourage Southern Sudanese to stand up for what is right and for the interests of the whole southern Sudanese citizens. He had envisioned a prosperous and more democratic South Sudan in which all men and women are governed by the rule of law.
He had planned to encourage the local citizens to participate in the democratic process where all men and women will exercise their rights to vote and choose their own leaders without being pressured by external forces.
Maku has contributed greatly in the party's leadership and helped shaped its political process in order to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of progress and development.
His dedication to serve his people of South Sudan and among the many accomplishments to be added to his contributions, can better be described by sincere testimonies from hundreds of South Sudanese who encountered with him in one way or another.
May his soul rest in eternal peace.
Editor's Note / Apology
We had earlier reported that Maku migrated with his family to Canada in 1989. We have since established that he migrated to Canada in 1998. The error is highly regreted.