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Johannesburg - Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will visit Nairobi, Kenya on Sunday and then travel on to Juba in South Sudan to help solidify a political deal there, his office said on Sunday.
Ramaphosa will be going in his capacity as ''Special Envoy of President Jacob Zuma to South Sudan'' and will be joined by Abdurahman Kinana, the secretary-general of Tanzania’s ruling party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi, as a co-guarantor of the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) Reunification Agreement.
''During his visit to Kenya, Deputy President Ramaphosa is expected among others to meet with President Uhuru Kenyatta, attend Kenya’s National Day celebrations before consulting with SPLM’s Former Detainees,'' his spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said in a statement.
''President Ramaphosa will then proceed to Juba South Sudan on Monday 1 June 2015 where he will hold meetings with President Salva Kirr and members of the SPLM Politburo.'' The Reunification Agreement was signed in Arusha, Tanzania, earlier this year by various factions of the party.
It had split into three factions and at one stage one faction was blamed for an alleged coup attempt against Kiir. Some were taken into custody, hence the label ''the detainees''. A meeting was held in Pretoria in April with Ramaphosa and representatives of the SPLM factions.
The aim is the reunification of the SPLM, uniting South Sudan, and ending the civil war. According to the United Nations Integrated Regional Information Network, South Sudan relies almost solely on oil for revenue. The north however, had been imposing a heavy levy to transfer the oil to its port. Supplies were stopped over this disagreement. Heavier taxes could be imposed in the south to bring in vital income, and food shortages are reportedly looming.
There is reportedly also a plan to construct a pipeline between South Sudan and Kenya.
