By Yiep Joseph
A civil society activist has urged Kenyan President William Ruto to send Raila Odinga back to Juba to meet with Dr. Riek Machar.
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who currently serves as Ruto’s envoy to South Sudan, met with President Salva Kiir on Thursday as part of a peace mission in Juba.
However, he did not meet Dr. Machar, who is currently under house arrest. Instead, Odinga chose to meet with the President of Uganda before returning to Kenya.
In a statement to the media, Ter Manyang, the Executive Director of the Center for Peace and Advocacy (CPA), emphasized the necessity of meeting with both President Kiir and Dr. Machar.
He appealed to President Ruto to send Raila back to Juba to meet with Machar to obtain information regarding the obstacles to peace, in hopes of finding a solution together.
“I urge President William Ruto to resend his special envoy, Raila Odinga, back to South Sudan to meet with Dr. Riek Machar,” he said.
Manyang expressed disappointment that Odinga did not meet with Machar, the First Vice President, or with civil society leaders, as this was a crucial part of the peace mission in Juba.
After arriving back in Kenya, Raila Odinga stated that he was not permitted to see Dr. Machar.
He explained that he was directed to meet with the President of Uganda but indicated that he would be able to return to South Sudan.
Recently, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) expressed deep concern over the escalating political tensions in South Sudan, particularly regarding the reported house arrest of First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny.
In a statement released on Thursday, IGAD warned that these developments threaten to destabilize the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) and could push the country back into violent conflict.
Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu, IGAD’s Executive Secretary, reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to peace in the region, recalling the communiqué from the 43rd Extraordinary IGAD Assembly of Heads of State and Government on March 12, 2025.
He called on all parties to refrain from unilateral actions that violate the spirit and letter of the R-ARCSS, which remains the only viable framework for sustainable peace in South Sudan.
“If left unchecked, the current trajectory could lead to a collapse of the transitional process and a relapse into full-scale war, with devastating consequences for the people of South Sudan and the greater region,” Dr. Workneh warned.
The IGAD Executive Secretary further urged all signatories to the agreement to exercise maximum restraint, prioritize dialogue, and seek peaceful resolutions to their differences. He reaffirmed IGAD’s readiness to facilitate mediation efforts and called on regional and international partners to reinforce the need to preserve peace in South Sudan.
“The people of South Sudan deserve lasting stability, not a return to conflict,” Dr. Workneh emphasized.