Kenya's opposition leader, Raila Odinga, will be Kenya's special envoy to South Sudan, in a new sign of a blossoming political friendship with his former rival, President William Ruto.
Nation.Africa understands, Mr Odinga was to fly to Juba on Friday morning to meet with South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and his rival Riek Machar, who was placed under house arrest this week, escalating tensions. He will press for de-escalation.
President Ruto said on Thursday he would send a special envoy, whom he didn't name, but said the decision was taken after consultations with South Sudan's neighbours and peacekeepers, Uganda and Ethiopia.
"I had a telephone conversation with President Salva Kiir about the situation that led to the arrest and detention of First Vice President Riek Machar in South Sudan. After consultations with President Museveni and PM Abiy, I'm sending a special envoy to South Sudan to engage, try to de-escalate and report back to us," Ruto wrote on X on Thursday.
Mr Odinga's aides confirmed that he would travel on Friday, although his scope of work or terms of reference were unclear as of Friday morning. But his trip came as the international community warned that the arrest of Dr Machar, South Sudan's first vice president, risked unravelling a 2018 peace deal that helped form a coalition government and keep the country relatively stable.
On Thursday, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which helped mediate the 2018 peace deal, expressed alarm at the detention of Machar and his wife, Angelina Teny, a former defence minister who was controversially sacked by Kiir two years ago.
"These developments seriously undermine the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) and risk plunging the country back into violent conflict," the regional bloc said.
Dr Workneh Gebeyehu, IGAD Executive Secretary, said, "All parties must immediately 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.
The current trajectory, if left unchecked, could lead to the collapse of the transitional process and a relapse into full-scale war, with devastating consequences for the people of South Sudan and the region as a whole."
In 2018, IGAD had brokered a peace agreement known as the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS).
This agreement helped create the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGONU), which brings together President Salva Kiir, Dr Machar and several other armed groups. Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia had traditionally helped to 'guarantee' it.
Former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta had previously appointed former Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka as special envoy to South Sudan.
However, the peace deal has been under threat as members of the R-TGONU have frequently clashed and President Kiir has routinely sacked ministers in defiance of the agreement, which requires him to consult the nominating parties for ministerial clusters.
However, the latest embers flared in February when a local militia in Upper Nile State linked to Dr Machar launched attacks on government forces.
The government initially arrested several senior officials from Machar's party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in Opposition.
Igad's executive secretary urged "all signatories to the agreement to exercise maximum restraint, prioritise dialogue and resolve differences through inclusive and peaceful means".
For Mr Odinga, this is the second time he has been deployed as a peace envoy of sorts. The first such mission, sent by the African Union in 2011, wasn't so successful when he failed to persuade the warring factions in Côte d'Ivoire to agree to a ceasefire.
At the time, former Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo had refused to concede defeat despite losing the election to Alassane Ouattara. Gbagbo later accused Odinga of taking sides.
