Government of Southern Sudan
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GOSS delegation return with positive outcome from AU Ministerial Committee
Sun, February 3 2008
By Nyibol Deng [Juba, Sudan]

On Friday 1st February the southern Sudanese delegation who had been invited to attend the African assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia returned to Juba. The delegation representing the Government of Southern Sudan (G.O.S.S) included H.E Samson Kwaje minister of Agriculture and the Foreign Minister H.E Deng Alor Kuol for the Government of National Unity.


Below is the Statement released by H.E Samson Kwaje at the Juba International Airport upon his arrival:

We just came from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where we the Southern Sudanese delegation had been invited by the African Union ministerial committee on the Reconstruction of Sudan, Southern Sudan in particular. We were also joined by a delegation from the Government of National Unity foreign Minister Deng Alor Kuol.

On the 29th January we had a joint meeting on the AU Ministerial Committee on the Recontruction of Sudan as well as the AU peace and security committee, which have two different roles but compliment one another. Firstly we wanted to know from them their efforts to mobilize the African continent in the reconstruction of southern Sudan. I remember when we met in Oslo in 2005 the African countries formed this committee that apart from the general donation these countries will be giving; the Africans created different funds for Southern Sudan and Sudan affected war areas. We met several times the last was in May last year in Durban South Africa and also in august in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. The second aspect of it was the joint meetings between the peace security committee as they wanted to know the progress of the CPA; because both are attached together.

In the briefing we did tell them about our disappointment in the Reconstruction committee, nothing much had been done by then except that some countries did provide assistance on a bilateral basis; among whom were the Republic of South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Egypt. They assured us that they will double their efforts in terms of the mobilization of the resources in the continent and internationally that they will expedite the reconstruction of southern Sudan in particular.

They informed us that the next meeting will be held in Sudan either in Khartoum or Southern Sudan, and with regards to the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement the Committee informed us of a new appointment of an AU special envoy to Sudan but will need to be confirmed first before they will be based in Khartoum, with a liaison office in Juba.

There were also sub issues such as the Kenya Crisis, it was discussed and recommendations were made to the heads of states and governments, including the lobby or run for the African Union Presidency which Sudan after consulting with various stake holders decided to withdraw the request to head the AU and concede to the Tanzania. Instead opting for the Regional Organizations bodies which was backed up and accepted by most of the members of the AU, particularly the East African Countries as it is their tenure this time and as such Tanzanian got the Presidency.

It is also worth mentioning that most of the AU leadership including the Chairperson of AU Commission Prof. Alpha Konare and the Commissioner of peace and Security are leaving the Union.

 

 

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