Malwal co-founded the Southern Front, served in the national assembly, and held ministerial positions, advocating for cultural, informational policies, and economic development before and during Gaafar Nimeiry's era.
Malwal played a role in peace negotiations and South Sudan's independence, occasionally aligning with controversial figures like Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for orchestrating the Darfur genocide.
[11][3] In his early years, he became an Information Officer in Wau between 1951 and 1961, but then Malwal pursued a career in journalism, joining the government newspaper Sudan Daily's editorial board in 1961.
[11][26]: 46–47 Following the 1972 peace agreement that ended the First Sudanese Civil War (1955–1972) in southern Sudan, Malwal served as the undersecretary of the Minister of Culture and Information starting in July 1972.
[28] In July 1976, a force of one thousand insurgents under Sadiq al Mahdi, armed and trained by Libya, crossed the border from Ma'tan as-Sarra.
During that time, President Gaafar Nimeiry was able to rally the nation via Radio Juba, and his government was saved after a column of army tanks entered the city to end the coup attempt.
[32][33][34] In 1977, a National Reconciliation took place in Port Sudan between Sadiq al Mahdi and Nimeiry, which saw the return of Hassan al-Turabi, an Islamist leader who had been imprisoned and then exiled after the May Revolution, as the Justice Minister and Attorney General in 1978.
Later, in August 1981, he was moved to the Regional Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning after a disagreement with the (national) Minister of Industry and Mining, Sherif El-Tohamy,[3] for his decision to place an oil refinery in Kosti instead of Bentiu.
[40] During his tenure, the World Bank funded a rice project in Aweil, which initially faced opposition from the local Dinka community but was eventually accepted and implemented.
[42] He returned after the April 1985 revolution as a journalist, establishing The Sudan Times (1986–1989)[17] with Mahjoub Mohamed Salih,[43] and opposing Sadiq al Mahdi's new government that came after the 1985 coup d'état.
[42] During that time, he documented how the north's policies, during the Second Sudanese Civil War, led to the 1988 famine in Bahr El Ghazal,[44][45] which killed approximately 250,000[46] to 500,000[47] people.
[42] Malwal left for the UK again following the 1989 Sudanese coup d'état led by Brigadier Omar al-Bashir and supported by Hassan al-Turabi, the leader of the National Islamic Front.
[7] In 1989 and 1991, Malwal shared his opinion about the "Democratic Revolution in Africa"[51] and his personal experience in "Surviving Dictatorship"[52] in seminars sponsored by the National Endowment for Democracy, US.
In 1993, he appeared on the Charlie Rose talk show with Paul Simon, Judith Ann Mayotte, and Suzan Mazur to discuss the ongoing civil war in Sudan.
He dismissed the ICC's move as a politically motivated and defended al-Bashir, claiming that indicting him would target Sudan as a sovereign nation and could negatively impact existing peace agreements.
[56] On 4 March 2009, al-Bashir became the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the ICC, for directing a campaign of mass killing, rape, and pillage against civilians in Darfur.
"[63] Malwal has been known for his strong political stances, which have sparked controversies as evidenced by his disagreement with Hassan al-Turabi[37]: 167 [64] and Sadiq al-Mahdi[19] for their role in imposing Islam and Arabic language on the south.
Following the National Reconciliation in 1977 which brought al-Mahdi and al-Turabi back to politics, Malwal criticised the Arab countries, saying that they talk about Arab-Muslim Sudan as if the south were without people.
"[65] Since the inception of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) was founded in 1983,[66] Malwal has had long held sharp opinions against the group and its leader John Garang.
The Dinka members accuse him of potentially jeopardising the party's electoral chances due to his association with a controversial government and making statements that could alienate Southerners.
[69] Malwal is also a member of the Jieng Council of Elders,[74] which is accused of widening the division between the Dinka and Nuer,[77][78][79][80][81] and undermining the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.