[3] He held this view due to the fact that southern Sudanese were not involved in the politics which led to the independence of Sudan from the colonial power in 1956.

He therefore argued that southern Sudanese must be given the right to determine their political future in a referendum, to be carried out in the south which should be supervised and monitored internationally.

The great massacres of Juba, Wau and all over the south that were carried out by the Sudanese Armed Forces in July 1965 convinced Gordon Muortat that the northern Arab rulers were not interested in the peaceful resolution of the 'South Sudan Question'.

Gordon Muortat Mayen was elected unanimously as president, with his army fighting a fully fledged war against the north, advocating for the complete independence of the south.

It is also a name which was used by colonial powers to inadequately describe the Nilotic and Nilo-Hamitic tribes living on the upper region of the river Nile, first by the Egyptians, and later by the British.

Dr. John Garang de Mabior, future leader of the SPLA, was among the batches of Muortat's soldiers sent to Israel for military training under the NPG.

The weapons were instead being diverted to Joseph Lagu who formed the Southern Sudan Liberation Movement (SSLM) in January 1971 after staging a successful coup d'état against Muortat and his rebel government.

This included; that talks ought to be held between North and Southern true Representatives i.e. those mandated and not opportunists acting on complicity with the Arabs and their agents.

[9] He believed that the Southern people were not given the chance to self-determination and a return to civil war will be needed in order for South Sudanese to achieve their true unalienable rights.

During the period of peace after the 1972 agreement, the former Ayna-nya rebels were absorbed into the Sudanese army, however many were discontented, and some chose to return to the bush in 1975 and headed to Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian government agreed to station the mutineers, which formed the military wing of the APF, in a camp called Bilpam, which later became the first full-fledged SPLA battalion in 1984.

[16][self-published source] Despite his lengthy period of exile in Europe, Gordon Muortat remained an influential figure in South Sudanese politics.

In 1994 Gordon Muortat was appointed as Personal Advisor to the SPLM/SPLA Chairman Dr. John Garang de Mabior and a member of the National Liberation Council.

Gordon's dreams into a reality, after achieving the Comprehensive Peace Agreement where the right to Self Determination for the people of South Sudan is enshrined," stated the President.

[17] Muortat is widely praised by South Sudanese from all tribes due to his impartialness, his strong stance against tribalism and his vision of seeing Southerners united as equals.

Especially during the period after the Addis Ababa Agreement where he was under self-imposed exile due to his refusal to participate in the Southern Sudanese autonomous government under Nimeiri which he saw as unjust and a sell-out.

[citation needed] In his memory, the Gordon Muortat Mayen Foundation has been set up, which seeks to help the people of South Sudan through various schemes and projects.