Travellers arrive at Juba Airport in South Sudan. The continuing return of former rebel forces to South Sudan has brought a positive mood of peace to Juba, with the South Sudan Pound started gaining against the dollar. PHOTO | FILE
By FRED OLUOCH
Posted Sunday, April 3 2016 at 08:35
Posted Sunday, April 3 2016 at 08:35
IN SUMMARY
- The continuing return of former rebel forces to South Sudan has brought a positive mood of peace to Juba, with the South Sudan Pound started gaining against the dollar.
- Dr Machar, in an interview with The EastAfrican in Nairobi, said that he will return as soon as the designated 1,370 SPLM-IO force is in place sometime early this month.
- The continuing return of former rebel forces to South Sudan has brought a positive mood of peace to Juba, with the South Sudan Pound started gaining against the dollar.
Within 48 hours of the return of a large contingent of 150 Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO), the pound gained from ...
the all-time low of 45 to the dollar to 28.
South Sudan charge de affaires in Kenya, Jimmy Deng told The EastAfrican that the continuous trickle of SPLM-IO soldiers with Juba has been encouraging for the last one week and the dollar is coming down as citizens prepare for peace and the formation of the Transitional Government of National Unity.
Before the civil war broke out in December 2013, the dollar was trading at 3.5 South Sudanese pounds.
The remaining challenge, according to Mr Deng, is the orientation of the incoming opposition forces and the government forces to understand that the war is over and that they have to work as one unit.
“The next step is to merge the forces and promote the concept of co-existence. The government forces have to understand that Dr Riek Machar is not running a parallel government but is going to be part and parcel of the community of South Sudan looking for peace,” he added.
While briefing the United Nations Security Council, former president of Botswana Festus Mogae, who is also the chairman of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) that is overseeing the implementation of the peace agreement, said that with the transfer of SPLM-IO forces to be completed next week, Dr Machar is likely to return soon and the transitional government can be formed in mid-April.
Cabinet lists
Dr Machar, in an interview with The EastAfrican in Nairobi, said that he will return as soon as the designated 1,370 SPLM-IO force is in place sometime early this month. He said he has already made a tentative list for 10 Cabinet slots that were given to the former rebels even though it has not been easy to accommodate all.
He said he will refine his Cabinet list once in Juba in consultation with his supporters. The portfolio balance reached in January gave President Salva Kiir 16 slots, Dr Machar 10 slots and two each for former detainees and other political parties in the 30-member Cabinet of National Unity.
Dr Machar, who flew back to Addis Ababa on Thursday, said that his biggest challenge will be to persuade the internally displaced persons to come out of UN camps after two and a half years.
Despite the growing positive mood in South Sudan, observers caution that forming the transitional government by mid-April will not automatically resolve the country’s humanitarian, political and economic crisis
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