President Salva Kiir, who has been on a Bahr al Ghazal tour since 26 February, has cut short the tour to attend an urgent meeting in Juba, a senior official said.
South Sudan’s information minister Michael Makuei Lueth told Radio Tamazuj this afternoon that President Kiir returned to Juba to meet Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed who is expected to arrive on Monday.
“Yes, the president has returned to Juba today. Ethiopia’s Prime Minister has decided to come to Juba tomorrow to meet President Salva,” Makuei said.
“The president stopped his tour in Wau and we left the delegation there. The president and other officials returned to Juba in order to meet our guest,” he explained.
Makuei, who is also the government’s spokesman, said President Kiir will return to Bahr al Ghazal region after his meetings in the capital Juba.
“We will go back to Wau on Tuesday to continue with the tour,” he said.
On Tuesday, South Sudanese leader Salva Kiir started a tour of different parts of Bahr al Ghazal region. His office said the tour was to disseminate peace.
In September last year, Kiir and several opposition leaders, including Riek Machar, signed a power-sharing deal promising an end to the conflict that killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions.
A new unity government is expected to assume power in May 2019 before elections three years later.