Salva Kiir meets Museveni after South Sudan rebels refuse power-sharing deal

South Sudan President, Salva Kiir has met his counterpart from Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and held talks on the way forward after rebels led by Dr.Riek Machar refused to put into practice the power-sharing deal signed last year.

The two leaders held a meeting at State House Entebbe on Saturday.

Museveni confirmed the meeting in which they held talks in regards the peace process in South Sudan.

“I received and held talks with President Salva Kiir of South Sudan, at State House Entebbe. Despite a few internal elements still trying to destabilize the progress of South Sudan, I am optimistic that the reassembling of the SPLM in Juba is a commitment towards peace,” Museveni said in a post on his social media accounts.

“We have also received updates from our line ministers on some development projects that we have undertaken to start working on. These include among others; the operations of Uganda Airlines launching in Juba.”

According to the South Sudan Presidential Press Unit,Kiir who was on a one-day working visit held bilateral talks on the progress of the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.

“The Minister in the office of the President, Mayiik Ayii Deng and Director General of external security Thomas Duoth accompanied President Salva Kiir to Entebbe Uganda where he was highly received by Uganda senior government officials,” the South Sudan Presidential Press Unit said on their social media accounts.

They said that key among the issues discussed during the meeting was the formation of the national army where both the South Sudan armed forces and rebels were supposed to report to military camps but the same has never been effected.

The creation of cantonment sites, where troops and rebels are to be screened, trained and integrated into a single force has also not been effected.

The South Sudan government and opposition led by Dr.Riek Machar ought to have formed a transitional government three months ago in May before elections in 30 months but the period was extended by another six months till November 12.

However, as things stand, a lot of issued agreed upon during the peace deal have not been implemented.

South Sudan activists two weeks ago began a campaign to pressure the country’s warring parties to meet a fast-approaching deadline to form a unity government as part of their 2018 peace agreement.

The Civil Society Forum, a coalition of more than 100 organization marked the beginning of a 90-day countdown to the November deadline for the ruling party and opposition to form a government.

Fighting broke out in December 2013 when forces, loyal to President, Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar clashed, sparking unrest.

An estimated three million South Sudanese have reportedly fled the country while thousands more have lost their lives, plunging the country into chaos and economic ruin.

In the past, attempts to reconcile Kiir and Machar yielded little benefit as ceasefire pacts have been repeatedly violated by forces of two factions of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).