Uhuru Kenyatta, Salva Kiir hold talks on S. Sudan crisis

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) will soon hold its summit in Juba, South Sudan, immediately after face to face talks between President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar.

Speaking when he held talks with President Salva Kiir and Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Minister Tedros Adhanom at State House Nairobi on Saturday morning, President Uhuru Kenyatta made it clear that Igad will not accept fragmentation of the ongoing peace talks on the South Sudan crisis.

President Kenyatta who is the Igad rapporteur said the face to face talks will take place in the shortest time possible.

President Kiir who arrived in the country on Friday to attend the fifth Northern Corridor Integration Projects Summit briefed President Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto on the talks he held with the visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry in Juba on Friday.

He said Secretary Kerry appreciated that African countries are better placed in resolving conflicts afflicting the continent and more so the Igad-led initiatives in South Sudan.

Mr Adhanom who later arrived in country also briefed President Kenyatta and President Kiir on the talks he had with Secretary Kerry.

In the briefing session which was also attended by Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs Ambassador Amina Mohammed, the Ethiopian Minister said Secretary Kerry expressed US commitment to supporting the Igad-led initiatives in resolving the South Sudan crisis.

As the Chairman of East African Community, President Kenyatta has made it clear that Kenya and the EAC will not stand by and watch the possibility of genocide in the region.

Through his efforts as the Igad rapporteur to the South Sudan crisis, President Kenyatta on January this year secured the release of political prisoners who had been detained by the South Sudan government.