Raila reveals details of his meeting with South Sudan’s Salva Kiir
By Steve Ireri, March 28, 2025ODM leader Raila Odinga, on Friday, March 28, 2025, disclosed key details of his inaugural meeting with South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir following President William Ruto’s appointment of him as a special envoy to the country.
In a post on his Facebook account, Raila stated that the appointment was an IGAD-backed mission and emphasised that his discussions with Kiir revolved solely around the rapidly escalating political crisis in the country.
“Earlier today, on an IGAD mission, I had a detailed and productive discussion with my brother, H.E. President Salva Kiir, in Juba, South Sudan, regarding the political situation in the country.”
Raila, who also shared photos of himself shaking hands with Kiir, elaborated that their talks further focused on how a resolution to the deepening political turmoil could be achieved and expressed optimism, stating that he was encouraged by the prospect of a peaceful settlement.
Additionally, Raila announced that he would subsequently brief all regional leaders, including President William Ruto, on the entirety of his mission. He affirmed that his briefing would outline the roadmap he had formulated to facilitate the country’s attainment of lasting peace and stability.
“I am encouraged by the possibility of a resolution to the conflict. I will be briefing other regional leaders and President William Ruto on my mission and a possible roadmap to sustainable peace and stability.”
Raila’s itinerary
Raila flew out on Friday morning, March 28, 2025, to meet with the South Sudanese President and his rival Riek Machar, who was placed under house arrest this week, escalating tensions.
The former prime minister was deployed to help press for de-escalation of the situation.
This is after Ruto, through a statement, revealed plans to deploy a special envoy to help address the situation in South Sudan.
“I had a telephone conversation with President Salva Kiir about the situation that led to the arrest and detention of First Vice President Riek Machar in South Sudan. After consultations with President Museveni and PM Abiy, I’m sending a special envoy to South Sudan to engage, try to de-escalate, and report back to us,” Ruto wrote on X.
Ruto defends picking Raila
Earlier, President William Ruto explained the reason behind picking the former prime minister as a special envoy to the country.
Addressing development partners and other diplomats during the launch of the Shirika Plan for Refugees and Host Communities at State House, Nairobi, the head of state indicated that the decision to deploy Raila is to help contain the situation and reduce the number of people seeking asylum in Kenya due to instability.
Ruto maintained that unless Kenya actively intervenes, the country risks being forced to welcome more refugees fleeing from political instability in the East African nation.
“Just this morning, I sent the honourable Raila Odinga, a former prime minister, to South Sudan. There is a situation that could lead to the export of more refugees from that country unless it is contained,” Ruto stated.
“We are engaged currently in the situation in the DRC; we have a robust conversation on containing the situation in Sudan. So we are doing what we can as Kenya, working with partners and regional mechanisms to see to it that we contain situations that could lead to people seeking asylum.
“We are actively making sure that we do what we can to make sure that we have less and less refugees,” he added.