The Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the SPLA. His
militia is/was independent of the president- I guess they made him deputy
because his solders would only answer to him.
Officially they were his bodyguards.
I used to live behind his compound, which
when I first moved to Juba- was a bunch of tukuls and army tents both inside
the fenced compound and to the outside of it. Last year it was upgraded and you can’t see
anything inside of it.
The soldiers would ‘guard’ the road, which
they often called Bentiu road, (Bentiu was Matip’s stronghold for a number of
years) but which most of us just called Paulino Matip’s road, or if you are new
to Juba- UNDP- sleeping outside in tents. Once I was dropping off someone that
lived inside that compound, I pulled off the road, slowed to a stop, and the
soldiers immediately got up in anger... I didn’t realize that I was meant to
turn off my lights when I got close to the gate- they didn’t appreciate that I
stopped there...and being lit up while they were laying on the ground. I got lectured at... until the guy I was dropping off talked to them… I had to drive further down
to drop him off. A few years ago you couldn't' drive down that road at night.
Matip fought on the side of the Khartoum
government during the war, joining SPLA after the 2005 comprehensive peace
agreement- and after the death of Dr. John Garang. One thing I always say… much still needs to
be written about the history of the SPLA movement. And this man’s story would definitely be a
compelling read (for me, at least)
