Since they entered government, some ministers have defied several cabinet reshuffles, including the massive sackings in July 2013, and have eventually gone through the sieves into the Transitional Government of National Unity. The Eye scoops a section of their files …

Dr Martin Elia Lomoro

Dr Martin is not a member of the ruling party, but he has defied many political squabbles to stay on since he entered government in 2006.

He is the chairman of the South Sudan Democratic Forum, a political party formed in diaspora in the run up to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, but he has lived through successive cabinets more than some diehards and longtime leaders of the ruling SPLM.

He is credited for playing a role in the south-south dialogue in 2006 and was first named as the Minister of Agriculture. He was later swapped to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, a position he held until the 2010 general elections.

For a man hoping to justify his political relevance and cement his stance, the result was more shocking for Dr Martin: he lost the race to represent his constituency in Lainya in the then regional parliament.

But all the same, he got a reprieve when President Salva Kiir switched him to the Ministry of Animal Resources. After the massive sackings of 2013, ahead of the conflict in December that year, Dr Martin not only survived the wind, but was elevated to the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs, which manages the Council of Ministers. He has retained that position now in the TGoNU.

Michael Makuei Lueth

Now known for his aura of strong statements, Michael Makuei, a senior member of the SPLM, started as a Minister for Legal Affairs and Constitutional Development, in the then regional government.

Mr Makuei was part of a team that monitored the Comprehensive Peace Agreement with the Khartoum authorities and, after independence in 2011, was also involved in negotiating post-independence issues, resulting in the Cooperation Agreements with the Sudan in 2012.

After retaining his seat in parliament in 2010, he was appointed as Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, a position he held until he was appointed as Minister of Information in 2013.

He was a member, in fact, the spokesperson, of the team that negotiated the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan. President Salva Kiir has retained him in the information docket in the TGoNU.

Jemma Nunu Kumba

She was first named a Member of Parliament in Khartoum and later became the Governor of Western Equatoria in 2008. As the first female governor, led her state against intermittent attacks by the LRA rebels and hosted the CPA celebrations in 2008.

In 2010, she lost a race to retain the seat to independent candidate Col Joseph Bangasi Bakosoro. After the elections, President Salva Kiir appointed her the Minister for Housing and Physical Planning.

In this capacity, she led government efforts to start building a new national capital in Ramciel. After the July 2013 sackings, she survived the massive shake up and became the Minister for Electricity and Dams. She has been moved to a new docket: Wildlife Conservation and Tourism.

Awut Deng Acuil

She was first a presidential advisor on gender and human rights and became the Minister of Labor and Public Service in 2008.

At a Governors’ Forum, she shocked senior officials and MPs alike with revelations that army generals and some undersecretaries and politicians had godfathered a lot of workers and ghosts.

They were fighting efforts to clean up the payroll and reform the civil service. Ms Awut, in her insistence to reform the civil service, recognized governors who had eliminated some ghost names and declared the savings they made from the screening.

She retained her position after the 2010 general elections. In April 2010, she was on the spotlight after a former governor of Warrap, Lewis Anei, accused her of threatening his life, an allegation she denied.

In October 2011, Ms Awut set a record as the first government minister to resign and remained as a national assembly MP, over unconfirmed reports that some heavy weights were ganging up to impede her efforts; so she stood aside instead of warming the seat doing nothing.

In 2013, she was reappointed as the Minister for Gender, Child and Social Welfare. She has, again, retained that position in the TGoNU.

Kuol Manyang Juuk

He is among the top brass of the SPLM and was named as Minister of Transport in Khartoum in 2006. In 2008, he was swapped to the position of Jonglei State Governor and his predecessor Philip Thon Leek  taken to Khartoum to take over Kuol’s former docket.

He was once tipped for the position of SPLA Affairs Minister, before Nhial Deng Nhial was appointed to the position in 2008, after the death of former minister, Dominic Dim Deng.

In 2010 elections, Kuol retained his position as the governor, beating the late George Athor Deng and NCP candidate Joseph Monytuil, and remained in the position until he was appointed Defense Minister in 2013. He has retained the docket in the TGoNU.

Stephen Dhieu Dau

Mr Dhieu was a Minister in the former Upper Nile State and was appointed Minister for Trade and Industry.

After independence, he was named the minister of Petroleum and Mining. He oversaw the shutdown of oil production in 2012 and also witnessed the resumption of oil flow a year later.

After the sackings in 2013, he retained the position. He has now been taken to the Ministry of Trade.

David Deng Athorbei

He became the Minister of Finance in 2009, after a series of scandals in the ministry, including the dura saga. He oversaw the introduction of the pound after independence. Mr Deng later became Minister of Electricity before he was switched back to the Ministry of Finance in 2013. He has now retained the position.