Raila Odinga's recent diplomatic setback in South Sudan, where he alleged being denied access to Vice President Riek Machar and required to seek Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's consent first, has taken a new twist. The Office of President Salva Kiir has now dismissed the claims.
South Sudan President's Press Secretary, David Amuor Majur, denied Odinga's claim, stating that President Kiir did not send the Kenyan opposition figure to meet Museveni.
According to Majur, the claims made by Odinga were a 'misinterpretation of diplomatic norms and principles' as Kiir did not make the suggestions.
Additionally, the government of the foreign nation claimed that the trip made by Odinga to Uganda to meet Museveni was pre-arranged.
"The suggestion that His Excellency General Salva Kiir Mayardit, President of the Republic of South Sudan, requested Right Honorable Raila Odinga to meet with the President of Uganda is misrepresenting diplomatic norms and principles," Majur stated.
"The Right Honorable Odinga’s mission to Uganda was pre-arranged. Nobody has sent him to go and talk to President Museveni."
In his role as IGAD special envoy to South Sudan, Majur maintained that Raila would inform the Presidents of Uganda, Ethiopia, and Djibouti about what happened during his meeting with President Kiir.
Nevertheless, the press secretary admitted that President Kiir denied Raila access to Machar but promised him access after briefing all the IGAD heads of state.
"Raila asked to meet Machar, but President Kiir's reply was that the first vice president 'is under investigation' and promised him that 'Next time when you come after consultation with the rest of the member states, you may find a chance to meet and talk to him,'" he added.
Raila's role, according to official documents from the youngest nation, was to calm things down after Machar's detention and try to mediate between Kiir and Machar to ensure that the peace agreement was preserved, preventing the country from descending into another civil war.
Machar's detention has raised concerns about the stability of the peace agreement in Juba.
As a result, the heads of state in IGAD sent former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga to South Sudan as a special envoy to mediate peace between Kiir and Machar and help ease tensions.
Upon Raila’s arrival on Friday, he met President Kiir but said in a statement to media in Kenya on Saturday that he was denied access to meet Machar and was instead sent to meet with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.
"I asked to be allowed to talk to Dr. Machar, but they were not able to let me see him. They recommended that I meet with [Ugandan] President Yoweri Museveni, which I did. From Juba, I then proceeded to Entebbe," Odinga stated.
The South Sudan Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU), which made Machar the first vice president, derives its legitimacy from the fragile 2018 peace agreement that ended the five-year civil war.
Attempts to remove Machar from the system threaten the collapse of the deal and undermine the government’s legitimacy.
South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, plunged into conflict in 2013, just two years after gaining independence from Sudan on July 9, 2011.
