August 20th 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – South Sudan’s main armed opposition leader Dr. Riek Machar Teny has arrived in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to participate in a peace review meeting called for by the regional bloc IGAD, the SPLM-IO said Tuesday.
“His Excellency the Chairman and Commander in Chief of the People’s Movement (SPLM/SPLA (IO)) and First Vice-president designate, Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon and his accompanying delegation arrives safely this evening in Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, ahead of the August/21/2019 consultative meeting,” a SPLM-IO statement issued Tuesday partly read.
According to the statement, the main armed opposition leader was accompanied by his deputy, Henry Odwar, the group’s secretary-general Tingo Peter, Machar’s defense chief, Angelina Teny and the group’s representative to the IBC, Peter Marcelo.
Machar and his team are expected to participate in a meeting on Wednesday called for by the IGAD aimed at reviewing the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement he signed with President Salva Kiir last year.
A government delegation led by information minister, Michael Makuei, had left the capital Juba for the peace meeting early in the day on Tuesday.
In September last year, the government and several opposition groups including the SPLM-IO signed a peace deal called the Revitalized Agreement for the Resolution of the conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) to end the war.
The agreement provided for the formation of a power-sharing government in May but the parties could not meet the deadline because all the pre-transitional activities necessary could not be implemented due to funding issues.
The parties had to meet in May in Addis Ababa to extend the pre-transitional period for another six months.
The six-month extension ends in November and as the deadline nears, the IGAD said no progress is being made and on this basis called for a meeting of the parties in Addis Ababa to discuss the way forward.
