- Born:
- 1951, Akon, Sudan [now in South Sudan] (age 75)
- Title / Office:
- president (2011-), South Sudan
Salva Kiir Mayardit
-
Who is Salva Kiir Mayardit?
Salva Kiir Mayardit, born in 1951, is a South Sudanese Dinka politician who became the first president of South Sudan in 2011 after the country gained independence.
Kiir's early life involved joining the Anya Nya separatist movement during Sudan’s first civil war in the 1960s. Later, he helped form the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).
As president, Kiir has faced challenges such as building infrastructure, addressing food insecurity, managing refugee influxes, and resolving ethnic violence. He has also had to navigate a difficult relationship with Sudan and internal tensions within the SPLM, including a civil war that began in 2013.
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What is Salva Kiir Mayardit best known for?
Salva Kiir Mayardit is best known as the first president of South Sudan, which became an independent country in 2011. Before this, he served as president of the semiautonomous region of southern Sudan from 2005 to 2011 while also holding the position of first vice president in the Sudanese national government. Kiir has also chaired the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) since 2005. As president, Kiir faced challenges such as creating infrastructure, dealing with food insecurity, and handling ethnic violence, including a civil war that began in 2013.
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When did Salva Kiir become president of South Sudan?
Salva Kiir Mayardit became the first president of the newly independent country of South Sudan on July 9, 2011. Previously, he served as president of the semiautonomous region of southern Sudan from 2005 to 2011, while simultaneously holding the position of first vice president in the Sudanese national government. Following a referendum in January 2011, where the southern Sudanese people overwhelmingly voted in favor of independence, Kiir assumed the presidency upon the south's secession.
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What role did Salva Kiir play in South Sudan’s independence?
Salva Kiir Mayardit played a significant role in South Sudan's journey to independence. As a leader in the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), he fought against the northern-based Sudanese government during Sudan’s civil wars. Kiir was a key negotiator with the northern government, which led to the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), ending the second civil war. After the death of John Garang, Kiir became the president of the semiautonomous region of southern Sudan and First Vice President of Sudan. Following the 2010 elections, he continued as southern Sudan’s president. The 2005 CPA stipulated a referendum on southern Sudan's independence, which passed overwhelmingly. Kiir became the first president of the independent South Sudan on July 9, 2011.
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What challenges has Salva Kiir faced as president?
As president of South Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit has encountered numerous critical challenges. These include establishing essential infrastructure for the new nation, addressing food insecurity, and managing the return of refugees following decades of war.
Kiir has also had to navigate skirmishes between the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and other southern rebel groups, as well as escalating ethnic violence. A significant challenge was the growing tensions within the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), which led to a civil war after Kiir accused his former vice president, Riek Machar, of attempting a coup in December 2013. Despite a peace agreement in 2015, violations occurred, and fighting continued.
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How has Salva Kiir’s leadership affected South Sudan’s development?
Salva Kiir Mayardit became the first president of South Sudan after its independence in 2011. Kiir's leadership has faced challenges such as creating infrastructure, dealing with food insecurity, and managing returning refugees.
Escalating ethnic violence and rebel activity have posed significant problems, particularly between the Lou Nuer and Murle peoples. Tensions within the ruling party, the SPLM, became evident, culminating in a civil war after Kiir accused his former vice president, Riek Machar, of a coup attempt in 2013. Despite a peace agreement in 2015, violations and fighting continued, leading to a dire humanitarian crisis and human rights abuses. Some progress was made on the international front with improved relations with Sudan and admission to the East African Community.
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Salva Kiir Mayardit (born 1951, Akon, Sudan [now in South Sudan]) is a southern Sudanese rebel leader who in 2011 became the first president of the newly independent country of South Sudan. He had served as president of the semiautonomous region of southern Sudan while simultaneously holding the position of first vice president in the Sudanese national government (2005–11), and he has held the chair of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) since 2005.
Kiir, a Christian, was born into a family of the Dinka ethnic group in the southern region of Sudan. In the 1960s, during the first (1955–72) of Sudan’s two civil wars, he joined the Anya Nya, a southern separatist movement, in the fight against the northern-based Sudanese government. After fighting ended, he was absorbed into Sudan’s national army and eventually attained the rank of lieutenant colonel. When the hostilities resumed in 1983, Kiir and others, including Col. John Garang de Mabior, defected from the Sudanese army. Along with Garang, Kiir helped form the SPLM and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), which would become the primary southern rebel group fighting against the northern-based government. Within the SPLA Kiir was one of Garang’s top deputies and eventually held the position of commander and deputy to the SPLA council; he also held the portfolio for domestic and foreign affairs/intelligence. When divisions within the SPLM and SPLA surfaced in the 1990s and early 2000s, Kiir was a vital conciliator and handled negotiations between disagreeing factions. He also was an important participant in negotiations with the northern government, which ultimately led to the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended Sudan’s second civil war.
Per the terms of the CPA, the semiautonomous region of southern Sudan was established in 2005. On July 9, 2005, Garang was named president of the region as well as first vice president in the Sudanese national government. After his unexpected death later that month, Kiir succeeded him in both positions. Prior to the 2010 national and regional elections, there was much speculation on whether Kiir would choose to run for president of the country or president of the region; he chose the latter. Kiir received almost 93 percent of the vote to continue serving as southern Sudan’s president; he also continued in his capacity of first vice president of the national government.
Another provision of the CPA was that a referendum would be held on whether southern Sudan should remain part of Sudan or become an independent country. The southern Sudanese people voted in January 2011, with the results overwhelmingly in favour of independence. Upon the south’s secession on July 9, 2011, Kiir became the first president of an independent South Sudan.
As president—first of the semiautonomous region, then of the independent country—Kiir was faced with many challenges, including the daunting task of creating much-needed infrastructure to support the nascent state, dealing with food insecurities, and handling the influx of refugees returning after the decades of war. He also had to deal with lingering skirmishes between the SPLA and other southern rebel groups and escalating ethnic violence within the country as well as navigate South Sudan’s precarious relationship with the Sudanese government, particularly with regard to contested regions along their common border, which proved to be contentious in the years following independence.
Kiir also faced growing tensions within the SPLM, signs of which were evident throughout 2013 and culminated in an incident on December 15 that Kiir claimed was a coup attempt by his former vice president and SPLM rival, Riek Machar. Machar denied the accusation but soon took lead of rebels fighting against Kiir and the SPLM-led government. Fighting quickly took on an ethnic hue when tensions were inflamed between Kiir’s ethnic group, the Dinka, and Machar’s ethnic group, the Nuer, and the conflict spiraled into a civil war that, despite international mediation efforts in 2014 and 2015, showed little sign of ending, in spite of a peace agreement signed by both Kiir and Machar in August 2015. Presidential and legislative elections were due in 2015, but, because of the ongoing violence, Kiir’s term as president was extended by three years, as were the terms of legislators.
Some progress in ending the civil conflict appeared to have been made in April 2016 when, after much delay, the transitional government, outlined in the August 2015 peace agreement, was finally established. It included the return of Machar to the government, in the position of first vice president.
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