By Mulengera Reporters
Kampala, Uganda – A powerful new book authored by Lt. Gen. Chol Biar Ngang Ajang, a former senior commander in the SPLA and former Undersecretary at the Ministry of Defense and Veterans Affairs in South Sudan, is set to be launched in a series of events across East Africa and the wider diaspora in the coming months.
Lt. Gen. Chol Biar Ngang Ajang, the Author, a former senior commander in the SPLA and former Undersecretary at the Ministry of Defense and Veterans Affairs in South Sudan.
Titled Breaking Chains: South Sudan’s Path to Liberation, the book presents a rare, insider account of the South Sudanese liberation struggle offering a clear, accessible, and historically grounded narrative that is already being recognized as an essential resource for secondary schools, universities, researchers, and policy institutions.
Scheduled launches will take place in Kampala, Juba, Nairobi, Canada, Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom, with the Ugandan capital set to host the opening event. These launches will not only mark the public debut of the book but are also expected to spark critical discussions on liberation, memory, and East African cooperation. A Book Rooted in History, Written for the Future!
Breaking Chains provides a comprehensive yet digestible exploration of key milestones in South Sudan’s struggle from the 1947 Juba Conference and the 1972 Addis Ababa Peace Agreement, to the 1983 Bor uprising and the damaging 1991 SPLM/A split. Lt. Gen. Ngang, having lived through these events as a soldier and policymaker, delivers a perspective that is both personal and deeply historical.
Unlike many accounts that romanticize liberation movements, this book interrogates the internal divisions, strategic miscalculations, and difficult decisions that shaped the path to independence. In doing so, it invites readers particularly young scholars to engage with history as a site of inquiry, not mythology.
A Symbolic Ugandan Publication
That the book is published in Uganda is itself regionally significant. Uganda was a key partner during the South Sudanese struggle for self-determination, and Kampala remains a crossroads for East African political and intellectual activity. Published by renowned Ugandan writer and publisher Nabimanya Ronald, the book offers an unfiltered, deeply personal, and historical account of South Sudan’s tumultuous journey to sovereignty.
Nabimanya Ronald – Publisher
By choosing Uganda as the birthplace of the book, Lt. Gen. Ngang reinforces the importance of East African integration, not only through political and economic frameworks but through the sharing of historical truths and educational resources. The publication represents a tangible commitment to intellectual collaboration across borders something especially urgent in today’s fractured regional landscape.
Museveni and the Foundations of Solidarity
The book briefly traces the ideological link between South Sudan and Uganda, beginning with the friendship between President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and Dr. John Garang during their university days at Dar es Salaam. This connection formed at a time when the continent’s liberation ideologies were still taking shape grew into a broader political partnership that, over time, influenced the course of regional liberation movements.
By revisiting these historical intersections, the book reaffirms the intellectual and strategic foundations of solidarity that continue to shape East Africa’s political relationships.
President Yoweri Museveni welcomes Dr. John Garang de Mabior at a national event in Kampala, an image that reflects the historic camaraderie between Uganda and the South Sudanese liberation movement. The friendship between the two leaders, rooted in their shared Pan-African ideals, is revisited in Lt. Gen. Chol Biar Ngang Ajang’s book Breaking Chains: South Sudan’s Path to Liberation.
President Yoweri Museveni pays his respects beside the casket of Dr. John Garang de Mabior on August 4, 2005, with Lt. Gen. Chol Biar Ngang Ajang standing in solemn reflection. The image captures a moment of regional solidarity following the tragic passing of South Sudan’s founding leader, a chapter also reflected in Lt. Gen. Chol’s memoir, Breaking Chains: South Sudan’s Path to Liberation, which acknowledges Uganda’s supportive role during the liberation struggle.
An Academic and Civic Tool
Already being reviewed by educators and historians, Breaking Chains is being recommended as core reading material for students of African history, political science, international relations, and conflict studies. Its blend of firsthand testimony, accessible language, and analytical insight makes it especially valuable for both classroom and independent study.
The book also serves as a civic tool for peacebuilding and reconciliation in a region where the lines between liberation and post-conflict instability remain thin. It calls on readers especially youth and policymakers to remember the costs of nationhood and to build responsibly upon its foundations.
Launching More Than a Book
As preparations for the regional and international launches continue, Breaking Chains stands as more than a personal or national narrative. It is a call to preserve memory, deepen historical understanding, and foster meaningful regional dialogue. For South Sudan, it is a story of struggle reclaimed by those who lived it. For East Africa, it is a gesture toward unity grounded in shared histories and the pursuit of truth.
The book’s upcoming launches will not simply unveil a publication; they will ignite a conversation that spans generations, nations, and disciplines. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
