Kiir so ‘tired and exhausted’ to run for public office, says J1 critic

JUBA – An outspoken exiled South Sudanese activist and critic on Saturday said President Salva Kiir Mayardit is so “tired and exhausted” and is hard for him to run for public office, something he says require trips to all the country’s ten states and the three administrative areas.

Wani Michael who resigned last year as representative of the young people to the National Constitutional Amendment Committee (NCAC) over what he calls intentional delays in the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement said Kiir is tired and exhausted.

“Am just here wondering how can a tired and exhausted President Kiir manage to run for so demanding Presidential election that requires him to transverse the whole Country. He’s completely and exclusively tired and exhausted,” the activist wrote on Twitter.

It remains yet clear if Kiir will run again as the SPLM flag bearer in the would-be general elections slated for end of the transitional period, but the president in September last year hinted at stepping out of politics to make room for young people.

“When we go for elections, new faces will come in, not from the people who are working in the government now, but people you haven’t seen before and that way we will have peace in our country,” he told a SPLM Youth League function in Juba at the time.

“From now, you prepare yourselves to engage with the grassroots, so that they know the program of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement,” Kiir added.

His hint at bowing from the political stage came amidst then growing agitation in Juba and other towns and cities across the country about unfulfilled promises made during the country’s fight for independence.

At the time, the civil rights movement, People’s Coalition for Civil   Action (PCCA), called on disgruntled South Sudanese to take to the streets demanding Kiir’s resignation.