IGAD to discuss Somalia, South Sudan tomorrow

Kampala. Ministers from the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional trade block, will meet in Ethiopia tomorrow to discuss the implementation of the South Sudan agreement signed by president Salva Kiir and his rival Riek Machar in Khartoum in August.
“On the agenda are the Implementation of the Revitalised Agreement of the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan and progress in Somalia,” a statement issued by IGAD yesterday reads in part.
The ministers are expected to discuss the new security arrangement that has to be implemented before Mr Machar goes back to Juba, where he fled when fighting broke out in July 2016.

Commitment
After signing the agreement mediated by Sudanese president Omar Bashir, the two rivals committed to end the violence.
Mr Machar said there “was no option but peace” and Mr Kiir said the deal would not collapse because it was “not forced upon them like previous accords.”
The State Minister for International Relations, Henry Oryem Okello, is expected to represent Uganda at the meeting.
Both Somalia and South Sudan have had civil wars that have left thousands dead and millions displaced.
Uganda has played key role in bringing peace in both countries.
In Somalia, Uganda has more than 6,000 soldiers deployed to fight the al-Shabaab insurgents, making the biggest troop contributor with African Union mandate.
The troops have not carried out any offensive operations against the insurgents for more than two years because they do not have enough boots on ground.