South Sudan leaders invited to peace retreat in Uganda
March 2, 2022 (JUBA) – South Sudanese leaders participating in the transitional government have received invitations from Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to participate in a retreat to review the status of the ongoing implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.
The invitations, according to the Presidential Affairs Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin, have been extended to President Salva Kiir, First Vice President Riek Machar, and all the other deputies at the presidency.
The meeting which was due to be held in February has been repeatedly delayed and pushed to March.
Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin says the invitation letters that the leaders have now received show the retreat will take place in the first week of March 2022. But he did not say the exact day the retreat would convene.
“So far, the leaders expected to participate in the retreat are saying they have received the invitations. In the office of the President, we have received the invitations, and we are just waiting to hear from them (the organizers)”.
“His excellency the president, Gen Salva Kiir Mayardit is ready to go and attend,” he stressed.
The President is a man of peace and has always shown a desire and a strong political will to resolve political issues through peaceful dialogue, the minister added.
Officials in the office of the first vice-president also confirmed receiving the invitation, saying the retreat will bring together President Kiir, Machar and the four vice-presidents for the various clusters to discuss and evaluate the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.
The leaders are expected to go hold discussions about how they would resolve to implement the peace agreement and move the country forward into elections slated for 2023.
A delay in the implementation of key provisions has always caused observers to express concerns of how elections would be held before the command structure, forces in the cantonment sites are resolved to allow their graduation and deployment to provide security and protection of the citizens.
Puok Bok, the Spokesperson in the office of the First Vice President, says the retreat would discuss some of the outstanding issues.
“We have received an invitation from one of the grantors, which is Uganda, to be part of the retreat in Uganda the first week of March,” said Bok.
“The agenda is the evaluation of the implementation of the peace agreement and how to develop way forwards on the outstanding issues on the agreement.”
The office of the vice president of infrastructure development, Taban Deng Gai said parties to the agreement would recommit themselves to ensuring all the processes are expedited.
(ST)