President Salva Kiir on Friday evening reconstituted the National Constitutional Review Commission (NCRC), National Elections Commission (NEC), and the Political Parties Council (PPC) and appointed officials into three key institutions that are critical for the conduct of elections.
In a republican decree read out on the state-run SSBC, Kiir reconstituted NCRC and appointed members from different political parties, civil society, eminent personalities, academia, business unions, refugee and internally displaced persons, persons living with disabilities, and the media.
He appointed SPLM-IO’s Riang Yier Zuor as the NCRC chairperson,;SPLM Party’s Awak Bior Ajang as deputy chairperson; and a civil servant, Abraham John Nathana as secretary and many others as members.
In another decree, he reconstituted NEC and reaffirmed the position of the incumbent NEC chairperson, SPLM’s Prof. Abednego Akok Kacuol; while Michael Yabagayo of South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) was appointed NEC deputy chairperson; Mac Maika Deng, a civil servant, was retained as the Chief Electoral Officer.
Kiir also appointed members of the Political Parties Council with James Akol Zakayo as chairperson; Lona Loduro as deputy chairperson, and Peter James Lemi, as executive secretary.
South Sudan is preparing to hold general elections in December 2024 for the first time since the country gained independence 12 years ago.