Musyoka, a former Vice President and key Opposition figure in Kenya, will be heading the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) on peace in the world’s youngest nation that has remained unstable despite numerous peace agreements signed between President Salva Kiir and his arch-rival Riek Machar. Government sources say the appointment was made by President Uhuru Kenyatta last week but no official communication has been released from State House, even though Musyoka had hinted on it Friday when he declared that he will be Kenyatta’s “errand boy.”
The post that Musyoka is taking up was formerly held by former Botswana President Festus Mogae, who stepped down in August. At the time, Mogae said he was satisfied with the peace process so far. “As the process to revitalise the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan draws to a close, I have adjudged it appropriately to allow for the new phase of the transition period for South Sudan to be in fresh hands,” Mogae said when he stepped down.
The commission was established by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development that has been overseeing peace process in South Sudan since 2013. It was primarily formed to monitor the implementation of the peace deal signed between Kiir and Machar in 2015.
The agreement was followed by several others, which have all failed to work leading to widespread violence, often blamed on soldiers from both sides of the government and the opposition. The United Nations estimates that more than 2.5 million were displaced by the war in South Sudan, while many more others have been killed.
