Leaders of East Africa's security and trading bloc IGAD has set a two-month deadline for revitalization of the 2015 peace accord in South Sudan, after meeting President Kiir in Juba this evening.
“We have a timetable laid down by IGAD. After talking to all the parties maybe within two months if everything goes according to our schedule the revitalization process will be accomplished,” Workneh Gebeyehu, Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister said in a statement.
Gebeyehu, who is also chairman of the IGAD Council of Ministers, said Kiir has reaffirmed his commitment to revitalization of the 2015 peace agreement.
“The President has also encouraged us to continue with our efforts. This is another especial day for South Sudan and we always believe that the peace makers are South Sudanese. The conclusion was fruitful,” he said.
The Ethiopian diplomat pointed out that the Inter- Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) will convene a meeting for its foreign ministers before a summit of heads of states and government on South Sudan peace revitalization.
South Sudan’s cabinet minister Martin Elia Lomuro said President Kiir has reiterated his affirmation of the need to go ahead with the revitalization process.” I think that we have moved forward. We have given our proposal, so IGAD is going to respond to some of the points,” Lomuro said.
The IGAD team led by Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister Workneh Gebeyehu includes Amina Mohamed, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Rapporteur to the IGAD Council of Ministers, Sam Kutesa, Ugandan Foreign Minister, Ibrahim Ghandour, Sudan’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Mohamoud Ali Youssouf, Djibouti’s Foreign Minister and Abdulkadir Ahmedkheyir Abdi, State Minister for the Federal Republic of Somalia.