President William Ruto has appointed former Prime Minister Raila Odinga as Kenya’s special envoy to South Sudan following the arrest of the country’s first Vice President, Riek Machar.
The former Prime Minister is set to depart the country for South Sudan on Friday, 28 March, for peace talks aimed at preventing further escalation of conflict in the war-torn country.
This comes hours after Ruto spoke with South Sudan President Salva Kiir, his Ugandan Counterpart Yoweri Museveni and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Raila is set to depart the country for South Sudan for peace talks. Photo: Courtesy.
Odinga will join a team of specialised police officers sent by the National Police Service (NPS) as peace envoys to South Sudan.
The NPS, in a statement on Thursday afternoon, noted that the officers, drawn from the Kenya Police Service (KPS), Administration Police Service (APS), and Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), would undertake specialised duties in support of peacekeeping efforts, aligning with international policing standards.
The African Union has also announced that it would be deploying the AU Panel of the Wise to Juba, South Sudan’s capital, as part of measures to de-escalate the situation.
Machar was arrested on Wednesday, March 26, by a team of armed security officials who raided his residence in Juba, disarmed his bodyguards, and detained him.
After his arrest, Machar was placed under police custody alongside his wife, Angela Teny, who is the country’s Interior and Coordination Minister.
