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Kenyans take leading roles in renewed South Sudan peace process

Kenyan Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Sing'oei Korir shakes hands with Lieutenant General (Rtd) Lazarus Sumbeiywo after a meeting with the South Sudan Mediation Team in Nairobi on April 22, 2024. (Photo: X/Korir Sing'Oei)

By Mwangi Maina | 23 Apr 2024

President William Ruto in late March appointed Sumbeiywo as the Chief Mediator for the South Sudan mediation peace process.

On Monday, the Kenyan Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Sing'Oei Korir met a delegation leading the South Sudan peace mediation, headed by former Kenya Army commander Lt. General (Rtd) Lazarus Sumbeiywo, to receive updates on the status of reform efforts in South Sudan.

"Joined the South Sudan Mediation Team under the leadership of Gen. Sumbeiywo during the briefing on the state of reform processes in South Sudan by Amb. General Gituai Tai, lead of the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission," posted the senior Kenyan foreign policy official on the X platform.

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Dr Korir added, "I was also deeply honoured to meet mama CPA, Felistus Keiru, who together with Gen. Sumbeiywo and Amb. Mohammed Abdi Guyo oversaw the negotiation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) leading to the founding of the Republic of South Sudan...."

Notably, Kenyan nationals have assumed prominent roles in the fresh campaign for peace in South Sudan, aimed to unite political figures in Juba ahead of the scheduled December elections.

President William Ruto in late March appointed Sumbeiywo as the Chief Mediator for the South Sudan mediation peace process.

Sumbeiywo, a retired Lieutenant General, is deputised by Mohammed Abdi Guyo, another Kenyan who has been serving as IGAD Special Envoy to the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and Somalia.

From left: Ambassador Mohammed Abdi Guyo, Kenyan Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Sing'oei Korir and Maj General (Rtd) Charles Gituai. (Photo: X/Korir Sing'Oei)

Facilitate talks

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir had requested Ruto to facilitate talks in Nairobi with opposition groups and other sections of society in the East African Community.

These include "opposition groups organised under the rubric of the South Sudan Opposition Alliance, religious groups, and civil society."

"Sumbeiywo is expected to provide the day-to-day leadership of the South Sudan Mediation Peace Process on my behalf," Ruto said after the appointment.

Sumbeywo will also facilitate negotiations and interaction among the parties to achieve "peace and political stability in South Sudan."

He was appointed Kenya's special envoy to Sudan in 1997 by former President Daniel Moi, and in 2005 he led the warring parties into signing the comprehensive peace agreement in Naivasha signed by the Government of Sudan and the Sudan's People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).

The Naivasha agreement effectively ended over two decades of conflict and marked a major breakthrough that ended with the birth of South Sudan in 2011.

On the other hand, Maj. General (Rtd) Charles Gituai has been serving as the chairperson of the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (R-JMEC) since August 2020.

Maj. General (Rtd) Charles Gituai (centre) Kenyan Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Sing'oei Korir during a meeting with the South Sudan Mediation Team in Nairobi on April 22, 2024. (Photo: X/Korir Sing'Oei)

Gituai, a former Kenya Army veteran, was appointed by the IGAD leaders to monitor and oversee the implementation of the Revitalised Peace Agreement and the mandate and tasks of the Transitional Government of National Unity in South Sudan (TGONU).

With just nine months until the general election in South Sudan, a cloud of uncertainty looms over the political landscape as parties fail to reach a consensus, while crucial tasks as identified by the Gituai-led commission remain unresolved.

This impending election poses a make-or-break moment, with the world watching the East African Community nation, aware that the outcome of the polls will shape South Sudan's future trajectory.