President Wiliam Ruto has appointed a former military commander, Lazarus Kipkirui Sumbeiywo, to lead the South Sudan Peace Process.
The Kenyan retired commander has more than thirty-five years of experience in the military in Kenya.
He has also led other peacekeeping missions to Sudan in two different instances.
In the first case, he served as Kenya’s Special Envoy to the IGAD-led Sudanese peace process from 1997 to 1998.
Later on, he was a mediator in the peacekeeping forces from the year 2001-2005 in South Sudan.
The former commander, despite his experience in the military, was also a close aide to Former President Moi.
Further, in the list of appointments the president also appointed Ambassador Mohammed Ali Guyo as the Assistant Mediator for the peacekeeping mediation for South Sudan.
Incidentally, the appointments come after a media house from the country explained that the leader of one of the non-signatory groups had penned a letter to President Ruto stating that they were ready to proceed with the negotiations.
Initially, the rebel groups had opposed the appointment of President Ruto to head the talks that seek to maintain peace between the government and the Non-Signatory South Sudan Opposition Group (NSSOG).
The Groups had stated that they had not been consulted in the process of rerouting the talks from Italy where they had been held to Kenya.
However, on March 14, Deng Nyang Vanang Thonghe, the UDRM/A chairman and Commander-in-Chief, wrote a letter to the Kenyan president expressing his group’s desire to participate in the talks.
“After constructive discussions, the leadership resolved to participate unconditionally in the proposed peace talks. The politburo made its decision based on the movement’s constitution recognizing that political conflicts, however, their bitter realities, can only be resolved through political means for achieving sustainable peace in the country,” read the letter in part.
The President had been appointed to head the mediation talks by South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir.
