No Future Without The Past

Bona Malwal has been described as the ‘Grand Old Man’ of Sudanese
and South Sudanese politics. Yet controversy and fierce independence
of spirit have characterized his life from his early years.

In this autobiography Bona speaks candidly about both his personal and
professional life. Son of a tribal chieftain, he was expected to follow in his
father’s footsteps; he chose, instead, to pursue a Western-style education
followed by a career in journalism and politics. As editor he founded two
daily English-language newspapers in Khartoum, The Vigilant (1965)
and The Sudan Times (1986), as well as the Sudan Democratic Gazette,
an exile publication for the Sudanese opposition based in London.

As Minister of Culture and Information, he attempted to broaden
the ministry’s meaning and function, accepting the predominant and
sometimes conflicting cultural trends in Sudan and developing them
as equally as he could. Outspoken in his role as presidential advisor, he
was held as a prisoner of conscience for fourteen months under President
Jaafar Mohamed Nimeiri’s military regime in Sudan. Most recently he
was chosen as rapporteur for the National Dialogue in Sudan, a process
that is fully covered in the book’s final chapter.

Throughout these vicissitudes, Bona Malwal has been one of the
architects and proponents of the right of the people of South Sudan
to self-determination.