MAFS Ministers (2005 - 2025)
Hon. Abdelbagi Hussein Akol is the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS). Before, he was the Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan and Chairman for the service delivery cluster, a position he held until February 2025.
Prior to his active political career, he was involved in national-level advocacy efforts to improve residents’ overall well-being through long-term investments in peace, education, health, and human development.
Hon. Abdelbagi Hussein Akol is a major political leader in the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA), a coalition of eight political parties that have signed the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan.
Hon. Abdelbagi Hussein Akol, who has held the portfolio of Agriculture and Food Security in the R-TGoNU since February 2025, is particularly dedicated about developing the agricultural sector to fuel South Sudan’s economic growth. He advocates for improved coordination at the national, state, and municipal levels, as well as among other stakeholders, to enhance the agricultural sector and attain food and nutrition security in the country.
Hon. Josephine Joseph Lagu Yanga became the first Minister of Agriculture and Food Security after the R-ARCIS, Currently Her Excellency is the Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan and Chairperson of Service Delivery Cluster. She holds a BA Hons degree majoring in Philosophy, and Psychology minor from the University of Khartoum, Sudan. After teaching for a few years in Juba University, she won a scholarship to pursue postgraduate studies in the University of London, Institute of Education in United Kingdom. At the University of London’s Institute of Education, she attained an Advanced Diploma in Education and master’s degree in educational psychology, before undertaking a PhD studies.
A trained teacher, she achieved the position of Senior Lecturer in Education and briefly served in 2008/2009 as Undersecretary for Higher Education in the Ministry of Education, Government of South Sudan.
Hon. Josephine Lagu is currently leader of the People’s Democratic Movement (PDM) and Chairperson of the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA), an umbrella grouping of eight political parties that are signatories to the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan. She held the portfolio of Agriculture and Food Security between 2020 and 2025, in the R-TGoNU. Hon. Josephine Lagu was particularly passionate about the development of the agricultural sector to fuel economic growth in the nascent country. She actively promoted the motto “Let’s Produce What we Eat”, as a way of ending the country’s dependence on food imports while she was the minister before going to be appointed the Vice President for Service Cluster in the R-TGoNU in February 2025.
Hon Dr Betty Achan Ogwaro became the first minister of Agriculture and Forestry in the Republic of South Sudan after independence in 2011. Ogwaro holds a bachelor’s degree in animal science with honors from the University of Juba. She also earned a master’s degree in veterinary science from the University of Edinburgh. She has also worked towards degree in a microbiology at the University of Wolverhampton, in the United Kingdom (UK).
Hon Betty Ogwaro served as Director of Animal Production for the Government of Southern Sudan until 1995 when she went to the United Kingdom. She was the chairperson for the Sudanese People Liberation Movement (SPLM) chapter office in the Midlands in the UK from 1999 to 2005 and is one of the women leaders who successfully negotiated the inclusion of 25% minimum women representation at all levels of governance as part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005. Ogwaro is a founder of “Windows for Sudan”, an NGO which seeks to promote the participation of Sudanese women in development and elevate their status in society. She has also consulted for UNIFEM on women’s issues.
In 2007, Ogwaro served as president of the Southern Sudanese Women’s Parliamentarian League, which advances the participation of Sudanese women leaders in politics and decision making. She was also the chair of the Southern Sudanese Women Caucus, where influential women’s organizations work to respond to the needs of Sudanese communities. She was a member of several committees, including specialized committees for Gender, Social Welfare, Youth and Sports. She combines her parliamentarian work with promoting women in agriculture.
Hon Dr. Martin Elia Lomuro Lomuro served as the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry in the Government of Southern Sudan in 2005.Currently he is the Minister of Cabinet Affairs in the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU) as of 2025. Born 28 in December 1957, Dr. Lomuro is a South Sudanese politician. Lomuro initially founded the South Sudan Democratic Forum (SSDF), which later evolved into the National Agenda, a registered political party. His political influence grew when he joined President Salva Kiir Mayardit following the passing of Dr. John Garang. Over time, Lomuro’s party aligned with SPLM government and taking active role in South Sudanese government and politics.
Lomuro served also as the Minister of Animal Resources and Fisheries in the Government of Southern Sudan before being appointed Minister of Cabinet Affairs in 2008, a position he has held until today.
Hon Dr. Lam Akol Ajawin is a chemical engineer, currently serving as the leader of the National Democratic Movement (NDM) party and Minister of Transport. Hon. Dr. Lam Akol previously served as Sudan’s Foreign Minister from 2005 to 2007 during the interim period after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
Born on July 15, 1950, Upper Nile, Akol holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Imperial College London and taught at the University of Khartoum. His complex political career spans multiple roles, including Minister of Transportation and Minister of Cabinet Affairs. Akol has also authored several books on Sudan’s history and politics. Throughout his career, Akol has navigated various factions and negotiations, shaping his role in South Sudan’s political landscape.
He served as the minister of agriculture shortly after the Agreement for the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (ARCISS) was signed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2016, a role he held for less than a year and was replaced by a member of his NDM party.
Hon. Onyoti Adigo Nyikwec was the Minister of Agriculture from 2016 until 2020, Currently he is the Minister of Livestock and Fisheries for the Revitalized Transitional Government in National Unity (R-TGoNU) as of 2025. Onyoti Adigo Nyikwec was a senior member of Dr. Lam Akol’s Sudan People’s Liberation for Democratic Change (SPLM-DC), which is now the Democratic Change Party (DCP) led by Hon. Adigo Onyoti and succeeded him as Minister of Agriculture in 2016 until 2020, when he was appointed to his current position. His political career was formed by the SPLM/A liberation movement, in which he advanced via several political posts.
Hon. Beda Machar was Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Cooperatives, Rural Development and Tourism from 2013 until 2016. Hon. Beda Machar is a member of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). He worked in government when the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) was one, before it was divided into several factions as a result of the 2013 and 2016 conflicts, which resulted in power sharing agreements between the various splinter groups that signed the 2016 Agreement for the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (ARCISS) and the Revitalized Agreement for the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCISS), respectively. He has since held critical positions in South Sudan, most recently serving as co-chair of the National Dialogue 2020
Hon Dr Anne Itto Leonardo is a South Sudanese politician and academic. She joined the University of Juba in 1978 as a teaching assistant from where she joined Kansas State University in the United States to pursue her doctorate. Hon. Anne Itto later returned to the University of Juba, where she became a lecturer. In 1994, she joined the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and began her political career.
Hon. Ann Itto Leonardo was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Forestry within South Sudan’s Cabinet on July 10, 2011. Currently Dr Anne is a member of East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), based in Arusha, Tanzania. Prior to the referendum on self-determination, she emphasized the importance of food security. She then announced intentions in late 2011 to establish a national agricultural bank and provide technical assistance to the 90% of the population working in small-scale farming.
She served as the SPLM’s acting secretary-general from 2014 to 2015. During this time, she applauded the efforts made to establish a new blood bank in Wau. In November 2015, Jemma Nunu Kumba took up her role. She criticized the lack of women’s role in South Sudan’s administration in 2014, claiming that the continual war was undermining political development, adding, “We could lose all the gains we have made; women need to lead the change we want to see.” In 2016, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit appointed her as his agriculture and food security advisor.
Hon Dr Samson L. Kwaje was born in the mid-1940s. Kwaje earned a master’s degree in agriculture (Plant Pathology) from Makerere University in Uganda in 1974 and a PhD in Agriculture from West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA in 1979. Samson Kwaje was a prominent member of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement’s Political Bureau, the former rebel movement that currently administers South Sudan, overseeing the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army’s information bureau and served as its official spokesperson.
He also played a key part in the Naivasha peace discussions with Sudan’s then-government, which resulted in the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005. He became a CPA signatory in May 2004, when he signed the Power Sharing Protocol in Naivasha, Kenya. Samson Kwaje was named the first Minister of Information and Broadcasting in 2005, as the Government of Southern Sudan was formed.
In 2008, he was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Forestry amid a reshuffle, a position he held until his demise due to illness in 2010 after her recovered from road ambush in November 2009. Samson Kwaje held the position even after the election, when the government was established. Samson Kwaje led the presidential campaign team for the SPLM Chairman and current President Salva Kiir.
