South Sudan’s vice president arrived in the United States of America without being received by any senior US government officials. The vice president has been delegated by President Salva Kiir to represent him at the upcoming the UN General Assembly.
Photographs of Vice President James Wani Igga’s arrival circulated online by a government journalist show that he entered via the John F. Kennedy Airport terminal like any ordinary traveler.
Igga was accompanied by Foreign Minister Barnaba Marial and six other cabinet ministers, including the Minister in the Office of the President Awan Riak.
They were received by South Sudan’s own diplomatic staff, including the Ambassador to the United States (based in Washington) Garang Diing Akuang and the Ambassador to the United Nations (in New York) Francis Mading Deng.
This development comes amid a chill in US-South Sudan relations after the former accused South Sudanese officials including the army chief of staff of obstructing peace efforts.
Earlier this month, the South Sudanese government spokesman suggested in remarks to the press in Juba that Igga was delegated to travel to New York in place of Kiir in part out of concern that the US government might not grant visas to members of Kiir’s entourage.
“Going to America, as you know is a problem, in terms of visa. Yes they can give the president the visa, but they can obstruct the going of others who are accompanying the president, so in order to avoid all this embarrassment, the Vice President James Wani Igga is going to attend,” said the spokesman, Michael Makuei.