IGAD FMs meet President Kiir over revitalization process
October 13, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – A delegation of the IGAD foreign minister met in Juba on Friday with the South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and discussed with him the revitalization process on the implementation of the peace agreement of August 2015.
The East African regional bloc is preparing to launch the revitalisation forum with the participation of the government, the armed groups and opposition forces in a bid to end the four-year crisis in South Sudan.
The IGAD recently held a series of consultations meetings with the SPLM-IO leader, Riek Machar, Lam Akol, General Peter Gadet, General Bapiny Montuil and Costello Garang. The regional body described these meetings as “constructive”.
The “IGAD Council of Ministers” led by Workneh Gebeyehu Ethiopian Foreign Minister met with President Salva Kiir and briefed him on the outcome of their consultations with the opposition groups leaders who expressed willingness to take part in the process.
“For his part, President Salva Kiir welcomed IGAD’s efforts to achieve peace in South Sudan,” said a statement released after the meeting by the Sudanese foreign ministry in Khartoum on Friday evening in Khartoum.
The IGAD delegation included Amina Mohamed, Kenyan foreign minister, Sam Kutesa Ugandan foreign minister, Ibrahim Ghandour, Sudanese foreign minister, Mohamoud Ali Youssouf, Djibouti foreign minister and Abdulkadir Ahmedkheyir Abdi, Somali foreign minister.
IGAD Special Envoy for South Sudan, Ambassador Ismail Wais, on Wednesday said he plans to meet with the civil society representatives in Juba very soon.
He further disclosed that the purpose of pre-forum consultations is to seek the views of the different forces in the process and a permanent truce and a timeline for implementation of the peace agreement.
“The purpose of this pre- Forum consultation phase is to seek a broad range of views on the conduct of the High-Level Revitalisation Forum and pursuit of its three key objectives namely; cessation of hostilities and a permanent ceasefire, return to the full implementation of the Agreement, and developing a revised realistic timeline and implementation schedule towards a democratic election at the end of the transition period,” Wasi said.
Speaking to Sudan Tribune in Khartoum, Costello Garang expected that he expects that the revitalization process would amend the 2015 peace agreement including the security arrangement and the prolongation of the transitional period.
He further proposed to extend the transitional period from three to five years to alleviate much of the bitterness caused by the war since December 2013 and disarm the civilians.
(ST)