JUBA — Kenya’s opposition leader, Raila Odinga, arrived on Friday in Juba, the capital city of South Sudan, to mediate the rising tensions between President Salva Kiir Mayardit and his first deputy, Dr. Riek Machar Teny.
Upon arrival at Juba International Airport on Friday morning, he was received by Amb. Monday Semaya K. Kumba, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and diplomats from the Kenyan Embassy in Juba.
“The esteemed former Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya, H.E. Raila Amolo Odinga, arrived in Juba this morning on a brief mission as Kenya’s Special Envoy to the Republic of South Sudan,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement issued on Friday.
Odinga, a former prime minister, was appointed as the special envoy to South Sudan on Thursday by Kenya’s President William Ruto.
He is expected to meet with President Salva Kiir and his deputy, Dr. Riek Machar, who was placed under house arrest this week, escalating tensions.
Machar and his wife, Angelina Teny, were placed under house arrest on Wednesday night, an action that now threatens peace in the fragile nation.
The arrest follows weeks of escalating clashes between Machar’s forces and the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces near the capital, Juba.
Regional leaders and bodies have been calling for restraint and de-escalation of the situation.
On Thursday, President William Ruto had a phone conversation with his South Sudan counterpart, Salva Kirr, following reports of the arrest of Machar.
Following their conversation, Ruto announced that he was sending a special envoy to South Sudan to ease tensions.
Ruto noted that he consulted President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali before making the decision.
