[Juba, South Sudan, TCT] President Salva Kiir has left for Washington DC to attend the US-Africa Summit on the invitation of US President Barack Obama. On Thursday, President Kiir attended a meeting with regional leaders in Nairobi, Kenya, after which he was expected to proceed to the US.
The president will attend the United States-Africa Summit, to be convened on August 5 and 6. Trade and investment issues are expected to dominate the summit between President Obama and about 50 leaders from African.
The president is travelling to the US for the summit and is expected to use the chance to strengthen his relations with the US government. Top on his list will be to mobilize political support from the US government as well as calling for investors to come and invest in South Sudan.
Speaking to the media in Juba, presidential spokesperson Mr. Ateny Wek Ateny confirmed that President Kiir will lead a delegation to market South Sudan to potential investors as well as share government policy and position regarding the current conflict in the country.
“He will be appealing to those who think that South Sudan is in war and so they can’t come to invest in South Sudan by telling them, that everything on the ground is going on well and therefore would like to extend our invitation to them to return to South Sudan, especially those who were here before and left because of this unnecessary war and those who are willing to come,” Ateny said.
The president’s visit is expected to be used to clarify many things regarding South Sudan, because internationally South Sudan is viewed as failed state. The president will have a chance to explain what happened in the country to President Barack Obama and the rest of African leaders as well as investors.
According to government spokesperson and the minister for information and broadcasting Michael Makuei Lueth, the president has briefed the government delegation to the peace talks to continue with the process as soon as the talks resume in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Lueth said the government is ready to bring peace once the other side is ready to negotiate by putting issues on table.
“Our president is ready for peace and he is the man of peace”, said Lueth.
The talks were scheduled to resume on 30th July, but this did not happen and they are now expected to resume again on 4th August.
Recently, a group calling itself the Nuer Supreme Council urged President Obama not to invite President Kiir to the US-Africa Leaders Summit, accusing him of having committed crimes against humanity.
In a statement, the council asked the US government to revoke the invitation to president Kiir to the Summit.
Now that President Kiir will be attending the summit, it seems the US government refused to accede to the demands of the council, and other South Sudanese who have been asking the US government to shun the current political leadership of South Sudan.
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