Salva Kiir Mayardit
Salva Kiir Mayardit is the President of South Sudan, serving as the country's leader since its independence in 2011. As a prominent political figure, he played a key role in South Sudan’s struggle for independence from Sudan. His leadership has been marked by efforts to stabilize the nation amidst ongoing challenges, including internal conflicts. Kiir is recognized globally for his role in the peace process, though his presidency has been controversial due to civil war and governance issues.

ZODIAC ELEMENTS
Ascendant:
Sun-Sign:
Moon-Sign:
Salva Kiir Mayardit, born on September 13, 1951, is a South Sudanese politician and military figure who became the first President of South Sudan when the country gained independence from Sudan on July 9, 2011. He has played a central role in the history of South Sudan, both as a military leader during its struggle for independence and as its political leader in the years since.
Kiir was born in the Bahr el Ghazal region of what was then Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, a colonial entity governed jointly by the United Kingdom and Egypt. He belongs to the Dinka ethnic group, the largest in South Sudan, and his early life was shaped by the political turbulence that marked Sudan's post-colonial period. The country gained independence in 1956, but conflicts between the northern and southern regions soon escalated into civil wars.
Kiir joined the Anya-Nya, a southern rebel group, in the 1960s during the First Sudanese Civil War. After a brief peace following the 1972 Addis Ababa Agreement, which gave southern Sudan a measure of autonomy, fighting resumed in 1983 with the onset of the Second Sudanese Civil War. This time, Kiir became a founding member of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), the main southern rebel force, under the leadership of John Garang. Kiir held various senior military positions within the SPLA and was a key figure in its struggle against the government of Sudan.
Kiir's political career ascended after the death of John Garang in a helicopter crash in 2005. At the time, Garang had just been appointed Vice President of Sudan following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended the Second Sudanese Civil War and set the stage for South Sudan's eventual independence. Kiir was chosen as Garang's successor as both the Vice President of Sudan and the leader of the SPLA, which had transitioned into the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), a political party.
Under the terms of the CPA, South Sudan held a referendum on independence in January 2011, in which an overwhelming majority voted to secede from Sudan. Kiir was inaugurated as the first President of the newly independent South Sudan on July 9, 2011. His presidency has been marked by ongoing challenges, including economic difficulties, tribal tensions, and accusations of corruption within his administration.
One of the most significant challenges of Kiir's presidency came in December 2013, when a political dispute between Kiir and his former Vice President, Riek Machar, escalated into a civil war. The conflict, largely fought along ethnic lines between Kiir's Dinka supporters and Machar's Nuer followers, resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and displaced millions of people. Despite multiple peace agreements, including the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS), the situation remains fragile, with intermittent violence and slow progress toward lasting peace.
Salva Kiir remains a central figure in South Sudanese politics, and his leadership is both praised for steering the country to independence and criticized for failing to address the deep-rooted issues that have led to ongoing instability.
REFERENCE:
GOVERNING TIME LINE
Salva Kiir Mayardit became the first President of South Sudan on July 9, 2011, following the country’s declaration of independence from Sudan. He assumed office as part of the historic process that led to South Sudan becoming the world’s newest nation after decades of conflict and struggle for autonomy. Kiir’s leadership marked a new era for the country, which was born out of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the long-running civil war between Sudan's north and the south. As president, Kiir has faced numerous challenges, including internal conflict, economic instability, and the complex process of nation-building. As of July 31, 2024, Kiir remains in office, having navigated a tumultuous political landscape and played a central role in South Sudan's ongoing peace efforts and national development.