South Sudan’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) Party Women’s League on Friday endorsed President Salva Kiir as the party’s sole presidential candidate for the country’s planned 22 December General Elections.
The endorsement came at the conclusion of the first national constitutional conference of the SPLM Women’s League in Juba, where delegates from the country’s 10 states and three administrative areas also adopted a constitution to govern the women’s wing.
“We endorse His Excellency Comrade Salva Kiir as the sole presidential candidate for the 22 December 2026 General Elections,” Central Equatoria State Minister of Gender, Child and Social Welfare Elizabeth Pita Lugor said while reading the conference resolutions.
The Women’s League also nominated Kiir for the position of SPLM Party chairman at the party’s upcoming third national convention.
The conference, held from August 11 to 14 under the theme “Empowered Woman, Empowered Nation”, brought together women representing various party structures, including the Political Bureau, National Liberation Council and legislative caucuses.
The delegates called for the mobilisation of women across the country to participate in the elections and pledged that the Women’s League would spearhead peace, reconciliation and healing efforts.
They also urged armed groups to embrace peaceful conflict resolution and condemned intercommunal violence, armed conflict and violence against women and youth.
Women’s League Chairperson Adak Costa said the adoption of the constitution represented a major step in strengthening the organisation and its leadership.
“Today we have elevated our women’s leadership to the level of having a constitution and a five-year strategic plan,” Costa said.
She also appealed to Kiir to allow the current SPLM secretary-general to continue serving in the position, saying his leadership was important to strengthening the party.
Costa said delegates returning to their states and administrative areas would be responsible for mobilising women and preparing them for the elections.
Meanwhile, Mary Paul Ngundeng, SPLM National Secretary for Popular and Syndicated Organizations, said the new constitution would allow the Women’s League to begin registering and recruiting women from the grassroots level through to the national level. Ngundeng also urged women to work for national unity and greater participation in political leadership.
“We are ready to start the registration of women from Buma to Payam, to county, to state, up to the national level,” she said.
Akol Paul Khordit, the SPLM Secretary-General who represented the SPLM Chairman Salva Kiir at the closing ceremony, said the reorganisation of the Women’s League and adoption of its constitution had been a planned objective.
“The crisis facing our country, whether they are political, security, economic, or social, can only be addressed by the SPLM and solved by the SPLM,” he said.
He also called for unity within the Women’s League, saying women needed to remain united to advance their rights.
The Women’s League’s resolutions also called for the chairperson of the organisation to become a member of the SPLM Political Bureau, for nationwide party membership registration and for the creation of structures to support and protect women’s rights.
The delegates further called for small-scale women traders selling farm produce, firewood, charcoal and other goods to be exempted from taxation, and urged the party to establish adult education centres and strengthen women’s economic opportunities.
South Sudan is scheduled to hold its first general elections on December 22, 2026.
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