South Sudan’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Manawa Peter Gatkuoth Gual has died in a hospital in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, South Sudan’s government has announced.
First Vice-President Riek Machar said the minister was flown to Egypt on Friday after developing chest pains in the capital, Juba.
He underwent surgery on Saturday and died at 05:00 local time on Sunday, Mr Machar said.
“Mr Manawa was a strong student leader during his university days as well as a leader in the youth movement in Sudan. He was a committed nationalist. He was a strong believer in reforms in the Republic of South Sudan,” Mr Machar said in a condolence message to the family.
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In his condolence message, President Salva Kiir said he received the news of the death of Mr Manawa with “profound sorrow.”
The late minister was also a member of the political bureau of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO).
His father, the late Peter Gatkuoth Gual, was a prominent South Sudanese politician.