Salva Kiir Mayardit

President

Date of Birth: 1951
Place of Birth: Bahr el Ghazal

Investors in Sudan’s oil wealth – China, Malaysia and India among them – closely watch Southern Sudan’s preparations for independence. The government has crucial decisions to take about whether to allow companies to buy farm land and whether to pursue Asian-backed plans for an export pipeline through Kenya.

Southern Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit is a Roman Catholic born in Bahr el Ghazal, a southern province bordering the Central African Republic. In the late 1960s, still a teenager, he joined the Anyanya, a southern separatist militia. After the 1972 Addis Ababa Agreement brought the rebellion to a close, Salva Kiir, like many soldiers, was absorbed into the Sudanese army.

The peace was short-lived. In 1983, President Gafaar Nimeiry declared sharia law and Colonel John Garang de Mabior, along with Salva and other Southern officers, defected to form the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. In the 1990s, Salva was the leader of the SPLA. Shortly after the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement brought the civil war to an end, Garang died in a helicopter crash. Salva stepped took over as Vice-President in the CPA-mandated government of national unity. Since then, Salva has steered the South to independence. Rather than contesting the Sudanese presidency in 2010 against Omer Hassan Amed el Beshir, Salva ran for the South Sudan presidency, winning 93% against his rival, Lam Akol.

The CPA expires on 9 July 2011, when Southern Sudan will become an independent country. Salva faces a daunting agenda: the Southern government needs to improve security, boost social spending and prepare for national assembly and local elections in 2012.