10-year-old Gatkuoth Manawa Gatkuoth being escorted by mother Sarah Enock after giving a speech on behave of his siblings at his father's funeral in Juba. | Courtesy

The untimely demise of the former Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Manawa Peter Gatkuoth left the nation in grief.

Early this week, thousands of mourners accompanied President Salva Kiir, his deputies and other senior officials to receive his body at Juba International Airport.

At his funeral ceremony on Thursday, his young son, Gatkuoth Manawa Gatkuoth was called on the stage to give a powerful speech that left mourners in tears.

“All the mourners gathered here, I greet you in the name of the lord and of my father. To others, he might be a leader, a friend but to me he was a father, friend and king,” said young Gatkuoth.

Reading from a mini tablet, Gatkuoth was hardly seen behind the podium, but his sobering words touched the hearts of thousands who had turned up for his father’s funeral.

“I know all of you here, are heartbroken because of his departure, my family and I also feel like we lost a great man. He was a humble man, who never wants to brag about his expenses or work, he served this country with dignity.”

Minister Manawa Gatkuoth passed on at Wadi El-Neel Hospital in Cairo after undergoing an unsuccessful operation on Sunday morning on the 19^th of June.

The doctor said he had a high blood pressure that ruptured a vital blood vessel in his chest.

President Salva Kiir eulogized the late as “a leader of his own who will be remembered for the leadership role he played both in youth movement and the political scene.”

First Vice President Riek Machar also said Manawa was a committed nationalist who believed in reforms.

But, according to his young heir, he was a good father.

“He never let us down. The relationship I had with my father will forever be a good memory. Whenever one of us was sick, my dad was restless always making sure that we take our medication on time,” he said.

“He wakes up early in the morning and prepare us for school and sometimes help us with school works and projects.

“Because of you dad, we grew up in an environment of harmony, love peace and unity. Rest in power my leader. Rest in glory,” he said.

Gatkuoth, who represented his siblings closed his speech by raising his fist and saying in Arabic, “Shukran ya watan! Shukran ya watan!” which translates as ‘Thank you motherland! Thank you, motherland!’

In the video widely shared on social media, funeral attendants are seen whipping their tears as the boy leaves the podium, and a man is heard saying, ‘he didn’t die, he left a part of him with us.”

The late Manawa died aged 49 and married, with six children.

He was appointed as the minister in March 2020 in line with the revitalized peace agreement that came into effect on February 22, 2020.

Besides his ministerial position, Manawa was also the Chairman of the National Committee for Information and Public Relations, and Member of the SPLM-IO Political Bureau.

He was also the head of the Nile Basin Initiative’s highest political and decision-making body, comprising of ministers in charge of Water Affairs in the Nile Basin Member States.