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South Sudan President Salva Kiir dissolved the transitional unity government late on September 22 2026 and appointed a caretaker administration to manage affairs until the December 22 elections. The executive decree also dissolved the national legislature all 10 state governments with their assemblies and authorities in three administrative areas an Associated Press dispatch from Juba detailed. Kiir is to remain president during the election period with the judiciary and key security institutions continuing without interruption according to the decree.
The action follows Kiir signing amendments to the National Elections Act the previous day that eliminated requirements for a completed permanent constitution and national census prior to voting Reuters reported. Those modifications also allow the incumbent executive to exercise full constitutional powers through the election period until a new president is sworn in with vice presidents to leave office three months before the poll. The South Sudan Opposition Alliance rejected the legal changes citing insufficient consultation among the 2018 peace agreement signatories.
President Kiir fired the chairperson of the National Elections Commission on September 15 without providing a public reason an earlier Associated Press report noted. Abednego Akok Kacuol who had led the commission since 2012 was replaced by its former secretary general Gabriel Bol Deng Majok. The dismissal occurred as the country moved to organize its first vote since independence from Sudan in 2011.
Riek Machar the leader of the main opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition has been under house arrest since March 2025 while facing trial on treason and murder charges that he denies Al Jazeera said. The 2018 peace deal that Machar and Kiir signed had established the power-sharing transitional government whose dissolution formed part of the electoral roadmap. Multiple extensions of that transitional period have taken place due to persistent implementation delays Reuters coverage indicated.
The civil war that the 2018 agreement sought to resolve broke out in 2013 two years after South Sudan became independent and created massive humanitarian needs across the region according to background summaries in Al Jazeera and AP News reports. Millions were displaced internally and into neighboring countries during the conflict. Economic pressures such as declining oil revenues high inflation and currency depreciation have continued to test governance structures in recent years a Reuters analysis of central bank changes noted.
Kiir’s office characterized the election law amendments as another major milestone in preparations for the December 22 vote according to the Reuters dispatch. Presidential affairs minister Africano Mande Gedima explained that the updates were designed to align the legislation with the transitional constitution. The caretaker setup is expected to oversee key ministries including foreign affairs defense interior justice finance and petroleum through the election period AP News reported.
