Salva Kiir Mayardit

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This article contains a Dinka name. According to Dinka custom, this person is properly addressed by the name Kiir.
Salva Kiir Mayardit
Salva Kiir Mayardit.jpg
1st President of South Sudan
Incumbent
Assumed office
9 July 2011
Vice President Riek Machar
Preceded by Office established
President of Southern Sudan
In office
30 July 2005 – 9 July 2011
Acting until 11 August 2005
Vice President Riek Machar
Preceded by John Garang
Succeeded by Office abolished
First Vice President of Sudan
In office
11 August 2005 – 9 July 2011
President Omar al-Bashir
Preceded by John Garang
Succeeded by Ali Osman Taha
Vice President of Southern Sudan
In office
9 January 2005 – 11 August 2005
President John Garang
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Riek Machar
Personal details
Born (1951-09-13) September 13, 1951 (age 61)
Bahr el Ghazal, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
(now South Sudan)
Political party Sudan People's Liberation Movement
Religion Roman Catholicism

Salva Kiir Mayardit (born 13 September 1951) is a South Sudanese politician who has been President of South Sudan since its independence in 2011. Prior to independence, he was President of the Government of Southern Sudan, as well as First Vice President of Sudan, from 2005 to 2011.

Contents

Life and career [edit]

Sudanese civil wars [edit]

Salva Kiir Mayardit in military uniform

In the late 1960s, Kiir joined the Anyanya in the First Sudanese Civil War. By the time of the 1972 Addis Ababa Agreement, he was a low-ranking officer.[1] In 1983, when Dr John Garang joined an army mutiny he had been sent to put down, Kiir and other Southern leaders joined the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in the second civil war. Dr Garang De Mabior had advance military knowledge and experience from both the United States and the Sudan. President Kiir was his Deputy.[2] Kiir eventually rose to head the SPLA, the SPLM's military wing when Dr. John Garang was killed in an helicopter crash. Rumours to remove Kiir from his post as SPLA Chief of Staff in 2004 nearly caused the organization to split.[1]

South Sudanese politics [edit]

Following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement formally ending the war in January 2005,Dr John Garang was Sworn in the Vice President of the Republic of Sudan. After the death of Dr John Garang in a helicopter crash on 30 July 2005, Kiir was chosen to succeed to the post of First Vice President of Sudan and President of Southern Sudan. Before independent, Kiir was popular among the military wing of the SPLA/M for his loyalty to the vision of the SPLA/M throughout the liberation struggle and among those who do not truth the successive governments that have come and go in the Sudan.[1]

Comments by Kiir in October 2009 that the forthcoming independence referendum was a choice between being "a second class in your own country" or "a free person in your independent state" were expected to further strain political tensions.[3] Reports in January 2010 that Kiir would not contest April elections for Sudanese president, but would focus on re-election as president of Southern Sudan were interpreted to mean that the SPLM priority is independence.[4]

Kiir was re-elected with 93% of the vote in the 2010 Sudanese election. Although the vote on both the national and sub-national level was criticized by democratic activists and international observers, the overwhelming margin of Kiir's re-election was noted by some media as being "Step One" in the process of secession.[5] Following his re-election, Omar al-Bashir reappointed Kiir as the First Vice President of Sudan in accordance with the interim constitution.[6]

President of South Sudan [edit]

South Sudanese voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence from Sudan in January 2011, with 98.83% of voters reportedly preferring to split from the North.[7] On 9 July 2011, South Sudan became an independent state, with Kiir as its first president. Kiir positioned himself as a reformer, using his inaugural address to call for the South Sudanese people "to forgive, though we shall not forget" perceived injustices at the hands of the northern Sudanese over the preceding decades[8] and announce a general amnesty for South Sudanese groups that had warred against the SPLM in the past.[9] A few weeks later, he publicly addressed members of the military and police to warn them that rape, torture, and other human rights violations carried out by armed personnel would be considered criminal acts and prosecuted aggressively by the Ministry of Justice.[10]

Kiir faced the first real crisis in his presidency of the Republic of South Sudan in early August 2011, when clashes over cattle erupted between Lou Nuer and Murle people in Jonglei and Warrap states, leaving over 600 dead. Kiir ordered the army to deploy to the unrest-hit areas to quell the violence, and the South Sudanese government claimed the next day that fighting had ended.[11]

In mid-October 2011, Kiir announced South Sudan had applied for accession to the East African Community. He declared the EAC to be "at the centre of our hearts" due to its members' support of the South during the Sudanese civil wars.[12]

On December 20, 2011 Kiir visited Israel to thank it for its support during the First Sudanese Civil War in 1956–1972,[13] and met with Israeli president Shimon Peres to discuss establishing an embassy in Jerusalem, which would make South Sudan the only country to have one in that city. [14]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Profile: Salva Kiir". BBC News. 2 August 2005. Retrieved 26 January 2010. 
  2. ^ Johnson, Douglas H. (2003). The Root Causes of Sudan's Civil Wars. Indiana University Press. p. 66. ISBN 0-253-21584-6. 
  3. ^ "S. Sudan president makes first call for independence". Reuters. 31 October 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2010. 
  4. ^ "Sudan would accept separation, says President Bashir". BBC News. 19 January 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2010. 
  5. ^ Gettleman, Jeffrey (April 26, 2010). "Bashir Wins Election as Sudan Edges Toward Split". The New York Times. 
  6. ^ Salva Kiir and Ali Osman appointed deputies of Sudan’s President Sudan Tribune, 29 May 2010
  7. ^ "Over 99 Percent in Southern Sudan Vote for Secession". FOX News. 30 January 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2011. 
  8. ^ "South Sudan: Salva Kiir Calls for Forgiveness As South Gains Independence". 9 July 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2011. 
  9. ^ "Salva Kiir takes oath, grants amnesty to rebels". Sudan Tribune. 9 July 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2011. 
  10. ^ Wadu, Waakhe Simon (1 August 2011). "Salva Kiir Warns Armed South Sudan Forces Over Human Rights Abuse". Oye! Times. Retrieved 18 August 2011. 
  11. ^ "South Sudan deploys troops to clashes-hit states after 600 die". Wireupdate. 5 August 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2011. 
  12. ^ "South Sudan readies for EAC membership which was later rejected". Busiweek.com. 2011-10-17. Retrieved 2011-12-06. 
  13. ^ Al Arabiya, 12/20/2011
  14. ^ Daniel Pipes 01/03/2012

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Salva Kiir Mayardit
Political offices
New office Vice President of Southern Sudan
2005		 Succeeded by
Riek Machar
Preceded by
John Garang		 President of Southern Sudan
2005–2011		 Position abolished
First Vice President of Sudan
2005–2011		 Succeeded by
Ali Osman Taha
New office President of South Sudan
2011–present		 Incumbent
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