His family moved to Malakal after his grandfather, Okiech, chief of the Ubuar people, died and Pa'gan Amum's father was asked to take over the role.

[5] In 1982, Pa'gan Amum left law school in Khartoum to organize and command a group of young revolutionaries committed to the establishment of a new country in southern Sudan.

In 2005, Pa'gan Amum was part of Dr. Garang's team that negotiated the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA), which brought to an end the Sudanese Civil War and led to a historic, internationally supervised referendum in 2011.

[9] In 2013, the South Sudan descended into civil war and on 23 July that year, Pa'gan Amum was put under house arrest by SPLM and suspended from all official duties.

A trial against Pa'gan Amum and three other SPLM leaders (the 'detainees') accused of treason began the following year in March, 2014 but was overturned in April.

In 2017, he received a restraining order against Amira Ali and then sued her for slander after she posted videos on Facebook accusing him of murder and rape.