By Freeman Makopa
Two leaders from Kenya and Ethiopia have arrived in South Sudan’s Capital Juba in an attempt to stop fighting between the country’s President and his political rivals on Thursday.
A situation which has left thousands of people fearing death from violence that began 11 days ago and has raised fears of a civil war.
President Salva Kiir was seen going into talks with Ethiopian PM Hailemariam Desalegn and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday.
Some officials believe thousands have been killed since violence burst forth on December 15, when clashes broke out at a meeting of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).
The United Nations is investing reports of mass killings which persisted during the time of violence pitting soldiers from Kiir’s Dinka ethnic group and those from Nuer ethnic group of former vice President Riek Machar.
President Kiir accused the former vice-president, who had been fired in July, of plotting a coup. Mr Machar denies trying to seize power. Clashes have since spread to half of South Sudan’s 10 states.
President Kenyatta, current head of the East African Community, was met by senior government officials as he arrived in Juba shortly before Kenyan media reported and his meeting with Mr Kiir and the Ethiopian Prime Minister were then held behind closed doors, officials said.
The European Union is sending an envoy, Alex Rondos, to Juba to push for a negotiated solution. China said its special envoy to Africa would also travel to Juba soon.
Both the South Sudanese leader and Mr Machar have said they were willing to discuss an end to the crisis.
But the former vice-president has said his detained political allies must first be freed, while Mr Kiir says there should be no preconditions.
South Sudan’s Information Minister, Makuei Lueth, on Thursday said that no contact with Mr Machar had yet been established. And he also said thousands of people had been seeking refuge at the UN compound until the situation becomes stable.
“15,000 people had fled to the UN compound in Bor but up to 2,000 of them were now moving out as the situation had become safer”
“For us, we are not talking with him,” referring to Machar whose whereabouts remain unknown
“This is giving us a sense of confidence that we’ll be able to establish more un missed flights and possibly more humanitarian flights.”
South Sudan has struggled to achieve a stable government since becoming independent from Sudan in 2011.The referendum for the achieved independence was intended to end a decade-long conflict, led by the SPLM, against the north. But the oil-rich country remains ethnically and politically divided, with many armed groups active.
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