Kiir leaves for Djibouti to attend IGAD summit

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir left for Djibouti on Sunday morning to attend a two-day, consultative tripartite meeting.

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir left for Djibouti on Sunday morning to attend a two-day, consultative tripartite meeting.

The consultative meeting brings together South Sudan’s Kiir, Kenyan President William Ruto and Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh.

The three leaders are expected to deliberate on regional peace and security issues, particularly the ongoing conflict in Sudan.

As the IGAD lead mediator on Sudan’s conflict, Kiir is expected to brief his counterparts on the unfolding situation as well as the progress made to de-escalate the fighting and opening of humanitarian corridors in the capital Khartoum.

In a statement to the Presidential Press Unit after Kiir’s departure, Information Minister Michael Makuei said President Kiir is also expected on Monday to join the ordinary summit of the IGAD heads of state and government, which will discuss issues concerning regional peace and security.

The South Sudanese leader was seen off by First Vice President Riek Machar and other senior government officials.

Expectations

Edmund Yakani, a South Sudanese political observer, said the regional leaders should reach a political consensus for resolving the political crisis in Sudan. He pointed out that Sudan’s security and political situation poses a real threat to the peace and security of the Horn of Africa.

“ I urge President Salva  Kiir to appoint a special envoy to the Sudan mediation process. President Kiir’s government must take the IGAD leaders’ delegated role as head of the IGAD mediation process seriously. Any attempt for mediation should be an inclusive process where various stakeholders of Sudan have a direct chance of participation in the mediation process,” Yakani told Radio Tamazuj.

“IIGAD leaders should come out with concrete decisions for nonviolent resolution of the Sudan political crisis. I am urging the leaders of the Sudan warring parties to take the IGAD-led mediation process seriously and avoid the tendency of violating the ceasefire agreements they reached,” he added.