Machar and Museveni discuss future of peace in South Sudan

January 25, 2016 (MASINDI) – Flown into Uganda for the first time since the war broke out in South Sudan two years ago on 15 December 2013, Riek Machar, former Vice-President and leader of the main armed opposition faction, SPLM-IO, met President Yoweri Museveni and discussed future of peace in South Sudan and the region.

Officials of the opposition told Sudan Tribune that the “closed door” meeting discussed the role Uganda should play in supporting full implementation of the peace deal signed in August 2015 between Machar and President Salva Kiir.

“Yes, the two leaders met on Monday evening,” James Gatdet Dak, press secretary of the opposition leader, Machar, said when reached by telephone.

He said the meeting took place, not in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, but in Masindi, a town which is 200km north-west of Kampala in Bunyoro region.

He added that Uganda being one of the guarantors of the peace agreement brokered by the East African regional bloc, IGAD, and at the same time a party to the war as it backed President Kiir by deploying troops to South Sudan against the opposition faction led by Machar, it was important that it played a positive role in the implementation of the accord.

Uganda immediately deployed thousands of troops backed by air power to help President Kiir fight off opposition forces for the past two years, arguing it was stopping a genocide in the young neighboring country.

However, the peace agreement has called on the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) to withdraw from the South Sudanese soil.

The opposition leader, Dak said, also wanted the Ugandan president to help in persuading President Kiir to revoke his decision of creating 28 states unilaterally, which has become an obstacle in the implementation of the peace agreement signed on the basis of the existing 10 states.

The two leaders also discussed the necessity to lift the state of emergency in South Sudan as well as importance of promoting relations between Sudan and Uganda in achieving regional peace and security.

“In summary, the two leaders discussed South Sudan and regional peace. The meeting was cordial,” he said, without giving any details of the outcome of the discussions.

“It opened a new chapter between the two leaderships,” he added.

Dak said his boss, Machar, is expected to hold a press conference in Kampala on Tuesday at around 10am local time.

(ST)