Kenya’s President William Ruto has appointed former Army Commander Lazarus Sumbeiywo as the chief mediator for the South Sudan peace process.
A Thursday statement from State House said Ruto made the appointment at the request of South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit.
The statement added that Ruto has appointed Ambassador Mohammed Ali Guyo as the assistant mediator.
In appointing the two Kenyans, President Ruto said general elections in South Sudan are scheduled by December this year and his South Sudanese counterpart had, therefore, requested him to facilitate talks in Nairobi between the South Sudan government and the holdout opposition groups.
These include “holdout opposition groups organised under the rubric of South Sudan Opposition Alliance, religious groups and civil society”.
The talks are meant to achieve “consensus and peace towards the conduct of the election”.
President Ruto said he had picked Mr Sumbeiywo as Chief Mediator due to his experience in the South Sudan peace process nearly 20 years ago.
“Based on your wealth of experience and invaluable contribution in negotiating and the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, I appoint you as the Chief Mediator from April 1, 2024, and June 30, 2025,” he said.
Outlining his mandate, the President said Mr Sumbeiywo would provide “the day-to-day leadership of the South Sudan Mediation Peace Process on my behalf”.
He is also expected to facilitate negotiations and interaction among the parties to achieve “peace and political stability in South Sudan.”
Mr Sumbeiywo will report directly to President Ruto and provide monthly reports. In addition, he will also provide periodic updates to all stakeholders.
The former army commander has also led other peacekeeping missions to Sudan before South Sudan’s independence in two different instances.
In the first case, he served as Kenya’s Special Envoy to the IGAD-led Sudanese peace process from 1997 to 1998. Later on, he was a mediator in the peacekeeping forces from the year 2001-2005 in South Sudan.
The former commander, despite his experience in the military, was also a close aide to Former Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi.