South Sudan’s Unraveling Regime Appoints Dead Man to Election Authority

Election hopes fade as rebellion spreads; Kitwang faction defects

South Sudan’s long-reigning dictator has appointed a politician who died six years ago to an election task force ostensibly composed of signatories of the country’s 2018 peace agreement. “Mr. Steward Sorobo Budia… has regrettably died,” the Office of the President acknowledged in a press release Monday, three days after the announcing the appointment.

The appointment is a potent symbol of administrative incompetence, the death of democracy in South Sudan, and the collapse of the peace deal that was meant to lead to elections.