South Sudan’s former detainees make second visit to Juba on party reunification
June 20, 2015 (JUBA) – A four-member delegation of former South Sudanese political detainees of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) on Saturday made another return visit to the country’s capital, Juba, in less than three weeks after their first visit on 2 June.
They were accompanied by the foreign minister of Kenya, Amina Mohammad, and received on arrival at Juba international airport by some officials of the ruling party in the government who are members of the intraparty dialogue team.
Akol Paul Kordit, spokesman of the representatives of the faction allied to president Salva Kiir in the intraparty talks told reporters that the new visit of the group to the country was a follow-up on the sidelines meeting which Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta, had with president Salva Kiir during his recent African Union summit in South Africa. The Johannesburg consultative meeting, he said, discussed host of issues, including the ongoing reunification process in the party.
The official stressed that the latest visit will build on the progress made from the previous visit and will give a big push to the Arusha peace process and to the general search for peace in the country.
“We are receiving today this delegation led by Deng Alor accompanied by the foreign minister of the Republic of Kenya. This initiative came as a result of a meeting held on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Johannesburg between our president Salva and Uhuru Kenyatta. They came in a follow-up to that meeting,” Kordit said.
Meanwhile, former justice minister, John Luk Jok, who is spokesman of the delegation of the former detainees said the visit was part of the activities they were undertaking to bring peace to the country.
“This is part of the series of the activities we have decided to undertake to bring peace. It will not be the last visit to Juba. We will continue to come until there is peace and stability in the country,” Jok told reporters.
He said their group returned to Juba again to make further engagement with the party officials in the government and to meet president Kiir on issues about reunification.
He did not disclose details of the issues the group intended to bring up at a closed-door meeting scheduled to take place at the headquarters of the ruling party on Saturday evening.
Observers say the group, which appears to have been sidelined in the Addis Ababa peace talks between the warring parties, wants to take the advantage of the intraparty dialogue, and allegedly to get an opportunity to be considered in the future government.
Akol Paul Kordit, the SPLM youth league leader and member of SPLM in government said peace is within reach as portrayed by repeated visits to Juba by former detainees.
“Therefore, their arrival this morning boost the Arusha Agreement process and to the general search for peace in the country,” he said.
But the absence of the armed SPLM in Opposition representatives led by the former vice-president Riek Machar casts doubt on the effectiveness of the efforts to end the conflict. Machar’s group has described these meetings between Juba and former detainees as “having no impact.”
(ST)