Sudan African National Union

Some time after the army took power in 1958, William Deng fled into exile, as did other southern politicians including Fr. Saturnino Ohure, Joseph Oduho and Alexis Bakumba. Saturnino Ohure and Joseph Oduho moved from Uganda to Kinshasa, Zaire, where they were joined by William Deng and founded the Sudan African Closed Districts National Union (SACDNU) in 1962. The exiles moved back to Kampala in Uganda in 1963 and shortened the movement's name to Sudan African National Union (SANU). Joseph Oduho was the first president of SANU (1962–1964). The new name was designed to show solidarity with other African nationalist movements of the period. ==Party in exile==

In Kampala, SANU became the voice of the 60,000 refugees who had fled to camps in Zaire and Uganda, but was unable to establish a political presence in Sudan. The SANU leaders did manage to organize a loose guerrilla movement, the Anyanya, which began operating in Equatoria in 1963, conducting isolated raids and largely remaining independent of the politicians in Kampala. ==Attempt at democracy==

In February 1965 William Deng split with the exiled SANU leaders and returned to Sudan, causing the party to split into SANU-inside and SANU-outside wings, with Deng leading the "inside" wing and Aggrey Jaden leading the "outside" wing. Deng's wing of SANU and the Southern Front, a mass organization led by Stanislaus Paysama, contested the April 1965 parliamentary elections. SANU was an active force in Sudanese politics for the next four years, advocating southern autonomy within a federal structure. In the 1968 election, William Deng won his seat by a landslide, but was assassinated just as the results were announced. ==Later years==

The exiled SANU leaders did not accept Deng's moderate approach, and formed the Azania Liberation Front in Kampala, Uganda. The party advocated self-determination and independence for the south. The current Chairperson of SANU is Dr. Toby Maduot. SANU has 4 members in the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly. ==References==