South Sudan’s First Vice President Taban Deng Gai is scheduled to visit Yei town on Saturday, for the first time since he replaced Riek Machar in July, a top state official said.
The area of Yei that remained largely peaceful throughout the two years of civil war that preceded South Sudan’s August 2015 peace agreement is now experiencing a wave of brutal killings and rampant insecurity.
David Lokonga Moses, Governor of Yei River State, told Radio Tamazuj today that the First Vice President Taban Deng will brief the people of Yei on issues related to peace and national dialogue tomorrow.
“The First Vice President will be visiting Yei, so for us as people of Yei, we expect his visit, is going to be a blessing, he will bring peace, our hope is peace and prosperity,” he said.
“In fact, we expect him to update the people of Yei about the national dialogue declared by the President. Maybe as a senior person with the SPLM-IO, I hope he is going to deliver a lot of messages and at least convince those people who have taken up arms, so we are optimistic that the visit is timely,” he added.
Lokonga pointed out that Gai’s visit will be the beginning of peace and stability in Yei area.