Dominic Dim Deng (1 March 1950 – 2 May 2008) was a senior member of Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement, a prominent military General and the first Defence Minister in the Government of Southern Sudan who lost his life alongside his wife Madam Josephine Apieu Jenaro Aken, senior politician Dr. Justin Yac Arop and 18 other Sudan People's Liberation Army and Government of Southern Sudan officials on a leased CEM Air Beechcraft 1900 that crashed 375 km west of Juba, Sudan on May 2, 2008.

Dominic Dim, a member of the Dinka group from the Bahr el Ghazal region was born in a remote village called Adol in Twic County, Warrap State, Southern Sudan. In 1962, he attended Nyarkach Primary School. He completed his primary education at Nyarkach and joined Kuajok Intermediate School in 1964.

In 1966, at the age of 16, Dim joined the rebels of Southern Sudan in the First Sudanese Civil War. A peace agreement was signed in 1972, known as the Addis Ababa Agreement, as part of the agreement Dim was absorbed in the Sudanese National Army (SNA) with a rank of 1st Lt.

Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon (born 1953), is the first vice-president of the independent Republic of South Sudan.

Riek Machar obtained a PhD in mechanical engineering in 1984 and then joined the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983–2005). Riek fell out with the SPLM/A leader John Garang in 1991 and formed a splinter group, the SPLM/A-Nasir. In 1997 Riek made a treaty with the Government of Sudan and become head of the government-backed South Sudan Defense Force (SSDF). In 2000 he left the SSDF and formed a new militia, the Sudan People's Democratic Forces (SPDF), and in 2002 rejoined the SPLA as a senior commander. After the death of John Garang in July 2005, Riek Machar became vice-president of the autonomous Southern Sudan. He became vice-president of South Sudan on 9 July 2011 when the country became independent.

Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon was born in Leer, Unity State in 1953, the 26th son of the chief of both Ayod and Leer. He was brought up as a member of the Presbyterian church. Riek belongs to the Dok section of the Nuer people. He trained as an Engineer at Khartoum University, and obtained a PhD in Philosophy and strategic planning from the University of Bradford in 1984.