The chairman of Kenya’s parliamentary committee on foreign affairs says a summit of heads of states of the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) scheduled to begin Tuesday will review Sudan’s 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
Adan Keynan said regional countries are expressing concern about tensions in Sudan ahead of the general elections scheduled for April.
“This particular meeting is coming at a time when Sudan is gearing up for a referendum and also for an election. Kenya being one of the guarantors actually of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, there are a number of critical issues, which the regional states have been jittery about. One is what is likely to happen with the referendum. Will there be an intra and inter southern Sudan conflict?” he said.
Sudan’s Vice Presidents Ali Osman Mohammed Taha and Salva Kiir (the latter, who is also chairman of semi-autonomous South Sudan) are scheduled to participate in Tuesday’s deliberations in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.
Lawmaker Keynan said regional leaders will take stock of the 2005 peace accord.
“What the heads of state or heads of government will be attempting to do is to do some sort of formative and summative evaluation on how the implementation has been carried out the issues that have been contentious. Like the issue of wealth sharing. Like the issue of how the election is going to be conducted. So in general, it is going to be a comprehensive review of the entire peace agreement,” Keynan said.
IGAD is reportedly expressing concerns about the implementation of the Southern Sudan peace agreement ahead of the April vote.
Kenya’s media reports that foreign minister Moses Wetangula urged the international community to keep its $4.8 billion pledge to help with the full implementation of Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
Keynan said the regional bloc has to ensure the success of the peace accord.
“What happens or what is likely to happen in Sudan is going to have a direct effect on all the neighboring states…and because the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was a regional peace initiative, all countries in the region are duty bound to make sure the Comprehensive Peace Agreement succeeds,” Keynan said.
The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement effectively ended more than two decades of war between the north and south.
