Chronicle Editor
JUBA – South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir appointed former rebel leader Riek Machar as the country’s first vice president on Friday, a day after the two men agreed to form a government of national unity.
Oil-rich South Sudan secured independence from its northern neighbour Sudan in 2011 but plunged into civil war two years later. Fighting claimed an estimated 400 000 lives and sparked the biggest refugee crisis since the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
The conflict was triggered by Kiir’s sacking of his then deputy Machar, who proceeded to form a rebel faction against the government.
“I President Salva Kiir Mayardit, president of South Sudan, do hereby issue a decree for the appointment of Dr Riek Machar Teny as first vice president of South Sudan with immediate effect,” said a statement read on state television.
On Thursday, the former rivals agreed to create a unity government before a February 22 deadline, paving the way for today’s appointment.
A previous November 12 deadline was pushed back as key aspects of a 2018 peace agreement, including agreements on the number of states and unification of the army, had not been met.
This led the United States to impose sanctions on some political leaders.
But last Saturday, Kiir agreed to reduce the number of states to 10 from 32, a crucial opposition demand.
Other components of the peace agreements remain outstanding. Kiir said on Thursday that they would be finalised in the coming days.
Machar is due to be sworn into office on Saturday, alongside three other vice presidents appointed to their roles on Friday.
Kiir also dissolved the country’s cabinet. He appointed a new minister of presidential affairs and a national security advisor. The rest of the cabinet is expected to be named on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe has won re-election with 72% of the vote, according to preliminary results from the electoral commission yesterday, extending his 15-year rule and a family dynasty that began when his father took power in a 1967 coup.
Despite widespread disaffection and protests calling for him to step down, a fractured opposition has struggled to launch a concerted campaign to unseat Gnassingbe in the small West African country of 8 million people.
His closest rival, former Prime Minister Gabriel Messan Agbeyome Kodjo, won 18% of the vote and longtime opposition leader Jean-Pierre Fabre got 4%.
The final results are expected to be announced by the Supreme Court in the coming days.
If confirmed, the result gives Gnassingbe five more years in power, a blow for opposition protestors who have taken to the streets in recent years, calling for him to step down.
In response to political pressure, Gnassingbe enacted a law last year limiting presidents to two five-year terms.
However, it is not backdated to account for the three terms he has already served, so he could stay in power until 2030.
Some political observers have expressed concern that a Gnassingbe win could spark fresh protests, though the streets of the oceanside capital Lome were calm in the early hours yesterday immediately after the vote.
When Gnassingbe came to power in 2005 after his father’s death, mass protests erupted that were met with a violent police crackdown during which at least 500 were killed.
Togo is the 10th poorest country in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund.-Reuters.
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