DR. BOUTROS BOUTROS GHALI, A MAN OF MISSION By Ambassador Dhano Obongo

10:59 PM March, 27 2016

Sudanese Online
Dhanojak Obongo-
My Library
Short URL






On November 14, 1922, in Cairo, Egypt, Boutros Boutros Ghali was born into an Egyptian
Coptic Christian family. He went to glory on February 16, 2016. His grandfather was a former
Prime Minister of Egypt from 1908 to 1910 when he was liquidated.

Ghali earned his initial degree in 1946 from the Faculty of Law. Cairo University, and in 1949
a PHD from the Sorbonne, University of Paris, France, one of the world’s most prestigious
educational institutions.

In 1980 Dr. Ghali became President of the African Society of Political Studies. His political
Profession advanced well under the aegis of the late Egyptian President, Anwar Mohammed El-
Sadat. Dr. Ghali served as Egyptian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs for the 14 years 1977
to 1991.

Under Islamic Sharia law Christians are regarded as second class citizens so that such a
senior post is seldom accorded to a non-Muslim in Arab-Muslim nations including Dr.
Francis Deng who was State Minister of Foreign Affairs during the presidency of Nemeir.

Exceptional was in the Iraqi regime of Saadam Hussein when a Christian national, Mr. Tariq Azaz, became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.


Dr. Ghali qualified as teacher, politician, and diplomat. In January 1992 he became the sixtth
Secretary General of the United Nations, the first Afro-Arab to do so serving until December
1996. A second term in that office was vetoed and blocked by the government of the United
States of America. Ghali spoke fluently in English, French, and German as well as his native
mother tongue, Arabic. In 1978 he joined and played an active role in the Camp David
negotiations which were signed in 1978 in the White House.

I extol Dr. Butros Butros Ghali because I admired his personality and was inspired when in
Senior Secondary School, he cultivated an interest in me to dream of joining the diplomatic
service. Fulfillment came in 2006 when Dr. Lam Akol became the first South Sudanese Minister
of Foreign Affairs in the former united Sudan. He implemented the CPA quota of South
Sudanese workers in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Khartoum, Sudan.

Dr. Ghali accomplished his mission on earth through loving and serving his Savior Christ
Jesus as well as his homeland, Egypt, known also as the mother of the world, or in Arabic Um –aldonyia. He has a very rich legacy in international relations especially in the arena of multilateral diplomacy. The world will remember as well as the African continent

One of his South Sudanese friends was Uncle Bona Malwal, former Minister of Culture and
Information under President Nimeiri. When Ghali became UN Secretary General, Malwal
asked him to invite Dr. John to the UN. Ghali joked. “Bona, do you want to destroy the UN؟ “
Uncle Bona responded that he wanted to invite the leader of his people’s cause and not a rebel
Leader. Ghali was a friend of South Sudan and not just Uncle Bona. I thanked uncle Malwal for a job well done.

Last year a group of senior ambassadors were selected for an advanced training seminar
and I happened to be among them. The Egyptian Diplomatic Studies Institute provided an
opportunity to interact with Dr. Ghali for an hour. Despite his health, he accepted meeting with
us. He was very lively and interesting. He implored us to stick together and not be ethnic
based as we were the future of South Sudan.

Now he has gone to glory and sits at the right hand of his Savior, Jesus Christ. We will see
him again in the second coming. On behalf of South Sudanese society and my own behalf, I
take this opportunity to extend condolences to his beloved family and to the Egyptian Embassy
in Juba, Republic of South Sudan, for the loss of a great man. We will miss Dr. Ghali. May the
almighty rest his soul in peace.

The author can be reached at email address: [email protected]



Topics related to the subject or the author


• SOUTH SUDAN AND THE NATION BUILDING! By: Dhano Obongo
• EXPERIENCE AND EXPERIMENT IN ANKARA, TURKEY EMBASSY by Ambassador Dhanojak Obongo
• JONGLEI STATE PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS By Dhanojak Obongo
• JONGLEI STATE PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS By Dhanojak Obongo
• SUDAN PEOPLE’S LIBERATION MOVEMENT (SPLM) ACTIVITES By Ambassador Dha

Arabic Forum