Igad to meet over South Sudan crisis

By RAWLINGS OTIENO

Kenya: Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Abdalla has said Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) will meet over the ongoing killings in South Sudan.

Ms Abdalla said it is a shock that hundreds of women and children continue to die even after the rebels and the Government signed a ceasefire agreement.

“Kenya has always responded well to the crisis in South Sudan. We cannot comprehend why there have been rampant killings even after both the Government of Juba and the rebels signed an agreement to end the war,” said Amina.

Speaking during the opening Ceremony for the Eighth Session of the Kenya–Rwanda Joint Commission for Cooperation (JCC), Ambassador Abdalla said Igad would soon meet over the stalemate.

She said Kenya is still in pursuit of reconciliation and negotiations between the Government and the rebels, adding that the talks led to the release of the seven detainees held by President Salva Kiir-led government. Four other were detainees released later.

Send troops

“The region will not sit and watch as South Sudan sinks to genocide. We are reviewing the situation. We have already send troops,” she added.

Senate Majority Leader Kithure Kindiki had moved a Motion for the House to approve the deployment of KDF soldiers in the war torn country for the purposes of regional peace support operations. A move that saw the sanctioning of the deployment of 310 soldiers in South Sudan to reinforce the 690 soldiers already there.

On the Rwanda and Kenya cooperation, she said that during the mid-term review of the JCC in 2011, progress was made and achievements realised in some of the key areas including security, immigration, infrastructure and trade.