National Super Alliance (NASA) leader Raila Odinga has issued an update on his efforts to bring warring parties in the South Sudan conflict back to the negotiating table.
After meeting S.Sudan President Salva Kiir in Juba and exiled rebel leader and former Vice President Riek Machar in South Africa, Raila disclosed that he had sought to understand their respective positions on divisive issues that had torn their country apart.
The former Prime Minister asserted that he was focused on uniting the South Sudanese leaders so as to bring peace to Kenya's neighbour.
“Raila’s talks with President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar respectively were aimed at understanding the current position of each of the two on the various issues separating them and which have implications for peace and stability in South Sudan, Kenya and the region,” he noted through his spokesperson Dennis Onyango.
Raila is Kenya’s special envoy in the South Sudan peace mission and the ongoing talks are being undertaken under the guidance of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
[caption caption="Raila Odinga (third left) with South Sudan President Salva Kiir (fourth right) in Juba recently "]
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He expressed confidence that the talks would soon bear fruit, pointing out that South Sudan's stability was of utmost importance to the region.
“Mr Odinga remains hopeful that these efforts will soon bear fruit,” Onyango stated.
The opposition chief is currently still in South Africa following his meeting with Machar in which he was accompanied by his lawyer Paul Mwangi and Suna East MP Junet Mohammed.
Onyango clarified that the mission steered by Raila was complementary to talks that have been going on in South Sudan since a deal for a transitional government fell apart in 2016.
The violence has seen thousands killed and displaced with women, children and the elderly the worst hit.
[caption caption="Riek Machar and Salva Kiir in Juba in 2016"]
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