Paulino Matip Nhial (1942 – 22 August 2012), also known as Matiep Nhial, was a military leader and politician in South Sudan. He served as Deputy Commander in Chief of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and was a prominent figure in the Sudanese civil wars.
Early Life and Career
Paulino Matip Nhial was born in 1942 in Ngop, in what was then Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (now South Sudan). He belonged to the Bul section of the Nuer people. He joined the Anyanya separatist force during the First Sudanese Civil War (1955–1972). After the 1972 peace agreement, he did not join the Sudanese army. In 1975, he returned to rebel activity in Bilpam and moved to Ethiopia.
During the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983–2005), he became a member of Anyanya II and returned to Unity State (Western Upper Nile) in 1985, armed and supported by the Sudanese government. He opposed the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), which had attacked Anyanya II in 1983. Fighting alongside Brigadier Omar al-Bashir (later President of Sudan), he recaptured Mayom in Unity State from the SPLA in early 1989. In 1991, he joined Riek Machar's faction.
Trading Empire and Militia Leadership
Paulino established an autonomous trading empire in his Bul Nuer territory around Mankien and Mayom in Unity State, dealing in locally grown sorghum and cattle. After the Khartoum Peace Agreement of 1997, his forces were incorporated into the South Sudan Defense Forces (SSDF). The government recognized his militia, the South Sudan Unity Movement/Army (SSUM/A), in March 1998, naming him a Major General in the Sudan Armed Forces.
Between 1998 and 2003, he fought on the government side, participating in the forcible removal of civilians from the Block 5A oil concession area and other oil blocks. His forces clashed with Riek Machar's SSDF forces in 1998–1999 for control of Unity State oilfields. By April 2004, he was chief of staff of the SSDF, wielding wide-ranging power over areas of Unity State.
Postwar Career and Integration
After the war ended in January 2005, Paulino met with John Garang in Nairobi on 30 June 2005 to discuss the integration of SSDF fighters into the national army. In 2006, he signed the Juba Declaration of 8 January 2006 and integrated his forces into the SPLA. He was appointed Deputy Commander in Chief of the SPLA, and more than 50,000 of his forces were integrated into the SPLA and other organized forces.
In May 2009, he was promoted to the rank of 1st Lieutenant General. Tensions persisted, however, including a clash in October 2009 between soldiers guarding his residence in Bentiu and another SPLA unit that resulted in multiple casualties. In a public letter, Paulino accused the SPLA, its Commander-in-Chief Salva Kiir Mayardit, and state governor Taban Deng Gai of involvement in plotting the attack.
Death
Paulino Matip Nhial died on 22 August 2012 at the Mayo Clinic in Nairobi, Kenya, after a long illness, while awaiting a visa to travel to the United States for medical treatment. He was approximately 70 years old.
