South Sudan's president dissolves government ahead of country's first elections

South Sudan President Salva Kiir has dissolved the transitional government, three months before the country's first election since its independence in 2011. The country has previously postponed elections twice and extended the transitional period several times. Under the amended law, signed on Monday, Kiir removed the country's five vice-presidents and dissolved parliament, as well as national and state governments. Kiir is the presidential candidate of his Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM). No prominent figures have announced plans to challenge him in the December poll. The main opposition leader Riek Machar was sacked as vice-president last year and charged with treason.