Kalonzo meets South Sudan vice presidents in ongoing peace process

Kenya Special Envoy to South Sudan Kalonzo Musyoka Wednesday met with the First Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan H.E. Dr Riek Machar in the ongoing peace process and the unification of the Military.

Through his social media, Kalonzo said, “we are all determined to secure the peace and prosperity of South Sudan for today and the future.”

To further engage in the ongoing peace process, the Wiper Democratic Movement Leader also met with and held productive talks with the Fourth Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan, H.E. Rebecca Garang in Juba.

Kalonzo’s mission is the continued push to have the revitalised peace agreement fully implemented.

He was on Tuesday received by the Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister of South Sudan Hon. Deng Dau Melik on arrival in Juba.

In February 2020, South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir formally appointed opposition leader Riek Machar as the First Vice President of South Sudan.

In a presidential decree, Kiir also appointed James Wani Igga as the second vice president, Taban Deng Gai as the third VP and Rebecca Nyandeng Garang (Dr John Garang’s wife) as the fourth VP.

Following a compromise between the government and various opposition groups, the parties agreed on a new government of 614 members. These include one president, five vice presidents, 35 ministers, 10 deputy ministers, 550 MPs, 10 governors and three area administrators.

South Sudan has since 2013 been trapped in a cycle of violence due to rivalries between its President Salva Kiir and his Vice President Riek Machar.

To end that cycle, several agreements were signed. The latest of those agreements is for the creation of a unified army.

The agreement which was signed by the President and his Vice President is supposed to be one of key the provisions of the 2018 peace deal.

Under the terms of the deal signed on April 3, the graduation of the unified forces should have been completed within two months.

Since achieving its independence from Sudan in 2011, the young nation has moved from crisis to crisis, battling flooding, hunger, interethnic violence and political instability.

In March, the United Nations Security Council voted to extend the mandate of its peacekeeping mission in South Sudan for one more year, calling for political dialogue to prevent the country from returning to civil war.

The United States-sponsored resolution received 13 votes in the council, with China and Russia choosing to abstain. Under the extension, the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) will remain in the world’s newest nation until March 15, 2023.

The current level of deployment — with a troop ceiling at 17,000 and police ceiling at 2,101 — shall be maintained.