Rumors of President Kiir’s Death and the Politics of Succession in South Sudan
By PaanLuel Wël, Juba, South Sudan
Monday, 19 May 2025 (PW) — again, Preside Kiir has had to show the nation and the world that he is, indeed, alive. This time, the rebuttal came in the form of a highly publicized meeting with Vice President for Gender and Youth Cluster, Mama Rebecca Nyandeng, at the State House in Juba. Officially, the two leaders met to discuss national development and regional cooperation. Unofficially, it was a strategic move to put an end to a swirling tide of misinformation that once again cast doubt on the continuity of leadership in South Sudan.
This is not the first time Kiir has had to prove he is still breathing. The last wave of death rumors during the COVID-19 pandemic grew so persistent that the President took to the streets of Juba, addressing citizens from the roadside in impromptu appearances. Such moments would be comical if they weren’t so deeply symptomatic of the fragility of our political reality.
But why do these rumors persist? Why does the idea of Kiir’s demise capture such a firm grip on the national imagination every few years?
Part of it, no doubt, is rooted in the President’s increasingly frail public image. His slow gait, awkward public appearances, and long-standing rumors of declining health have created a fertile environment for speculation. In a country with little transparency around the health of its leaders, perception quickly becomes “truth” in the public square.
Yet these rumors are not merely products of imagination or concern; they are also tools, carefully wielded by political actors vying for power in the murky battleground of South Sudanese succession politics.
Behind the scenes lies a mounting internal power struggle between two rival camps: the so-called Kampala Group, composed of SPLM historical figures, and the Juba Group led by the “crown prince.” As the President’s age becomes more apparent and the question of succession looms larger, these factions are maneuvering, sometimes through proxies and rumor mills, to shape the post-Kiir landscape. A whisper campaign suggesting the President is no longer alive does more than just rattle the population; it tests the readiness of institutions, pressures rival camps, and probes the balance of power within the ruling elite.
In this context, the recent meeting between President Kiir and VP Mama Rebecca Nyandeng served multiple purposes. Ostensibly, it was about bilateral cooperation and national progress. But politically, it was a performance of unity, a visual rebuttal to narratives of collapse, and perhaps a subtle warning to those within and outside the government who are too eager to count President Kiir out.
We should not mistake symbolic meetings and photo ops for stability. The persistence of death rumors is a reflection of an unstable political climate where the absence of clear succession planning has created a vacuum filled by whispers, intrigue, and anxiety. And until this vacuum is addressed transparently with institutions, not just personalities, prepared for the inevitable the cycle of rumor, rebuttal, and renewed uncertainty will continue.
In the meantime, we can expect more “resurrections,” more choreographed meetings, and more choreographed attempts by the President’s office to put to rest the rumors of his demise. But the real story lies not in President Kiir’s mortality, but in the fierce competition over what comes after and who will inherit the fragile state he helped create.
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