Salva Kiir Mayardit
| Salva Kiir Mayardit | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| President of South Sudan | |
|
Assumed office 9 July 2011 |
|
| Vice President |
Riek Machar (2011-13) James Wani Igga (2013-2016) Riek Machar (April–July 2016) Taban Deng Gai (July 2016-present) |
| Preceded by | Position established (Omar al-Bashir as President of Sudan and Himself President of Southern Sudan) |
| President of Southern Sudan | |
|
In office 30 July 2005 – 9 July 2011 Acting: 30 July 2005 – 11 August 2005 |
|
| Vice President | Riek Machar |
| Preceded by | John Garang |
| Succeeded by | Position 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 July 2005 – 11 August 2005 |
|
| President | John Garang |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Riek Machar |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
September 13, 1951 Bahr el Ghazal, Sudan (now South Sudan) |
| Political party | Sudan People's Liberation Movement |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Salva Kiir Mayardit (born 13 September 1951) is a Dinka 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.
In the late 1960s, Kiir joined the Anyanya battalion in the First Sudanese Civil War. By the time of the 1972 Addis Ababa Agreement, he was a low-ranking officer. 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 advanced military knowledge and experience from both the United States and the Sudan. Kiir was his Deputy. Kiir eventually rose to head the SPLA, the SPLM's military wing when Dr. John Garang was killed in a helicopter crash. Rumours to remove Kiir from his post as SPLA Chief of Staff in 2004 nearly caused the organization to split.
Following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement formally ending the war in January 2005, Dr. John Garang was sworn in as 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 independence, 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 trust the successive governments that have come and gone in the Sudan.
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. 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 was independence.
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Wikipedia