‘Global citizen’ toured world to preach peace

Bethwel Kiplagat, as the new High Commissioner in London, boards a carriage to Buckingham Palace to present his credentials to Queen Elizabeth II on July 31, 1981. [Photo:File, Standard]

The searing heat in Juba was getting into the heads of a delegation of more than a dozen men who wanted to find a peaceful solution to the South Sudan conflict that had been raging for decades.

As the former generals, most of whom had known nothing but violence as a form of dispute resolution shouted at each other and banged tables, an outsider sat quietly in a corner.