South Sudan president fires head of electoral body months before country’s first election

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — South Sudan President Salva Kiir on Tuesday night announced the removal of the head of the East African country’s electoral body only three months before the country’s first election. Abednego Akok Kacuol was fired from his position as chairperson of the National Elections Commission without a reason being given publicly by Kiir. He will be replaced by Gabriel Bol Deng Majok, who served as the electoral commission’s secretary general. Akok, 71, was appointed as chairperson of the electoral body in August 2012 and reappointed in November 2023 after the commission was reconstituted under a 2018 peace agreement that ended a five-year civil war. South Sudan has repeatedly postponed elections since gaining independence in 2011, citing delays in implementing the peace deal.

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