The pawn who became king: How has Salva Kiir stayed at the top so long? | African Arguments
africanarguments.org
Three strategies the perennially underestimated president has used to build and keep power across decades of South Sudan’s political tumult. When playing chess in the capital Juba, I’ve noticed that many young players make the same tongue in cheek justification when taking an opposing pawn. Käk aa keek ëbɛ̈n ya yï Kiir, they say, which is Dinka for: “This pawn could advance to become another Kiir”. This throwaway comment reveals a lot about Salva Kiir, a man who has so often been underestimated yet has somehow risen to the top of South Sudan’s tumultuous politics and, even more impressively, stayed there […]

Ever since, Kiir has been at the top of the political hierarchy, becoming president of South Sudan after it gained independence in 2011. In this time, he has not changed his strategy of giving his rivals reasons to underestimate him. He still allows his apparent weaknesses to be seen and highlighted. He has only occasionally let the mask slip, such as at a rally in 2013, soon after he had fired his entire cabinet, when Kiir revealed that he sees himself as a tiger who hides his claws.