He was said to have wanted to become the Koch county commissioner, but lost this opportunity when Taban Deng Gai was appointed governor of Unity state in 2008.
When he refused, on 30 June 2011 the state governor Taban Deng Gai gave him the sack.
This caused doubts as to Kiir's intention to merely hold on to power and was coupled with the dismissal of the Governor of Unity Taban Deng Gai on allegation that he would back Machar in replacing Kiir as the SPLM chairperson and therefore the party’s candidate for the election, though Gai denied this.
In the April 2010 elections the state electoral body announced that Taban Deng Gai won by 137,662 votes, beating runner-up Angelina Teny who won 63,561 votes.
Deng Xiaoping | Chao Gai | Ku-ring-gai Council | Taban Deng Gai | Deng Yingchao | Sun Deng | Simon Deng | Oyay Deng Ajak | Mount Kuring-gai, New South Wales | Mount Kuring-gai | Lan Kham Deng | gai saber | ''Gai-Jin'' (New York: Delacorte Press, 1993) | Empress Deng Mengnü | Electoral district of Ku-ring-gai | Deng Xiaoling | Deng Xiaofei | Deng Tuo | Deng Tingzhen | Deng Ai | Benson Deng | Aldo Deng |