Kenya’s former president begins peace mission to Sudan

August 11, 2007 (NAIROBI) — Kenya’s former president Daniel Moi is due in Sudan on Friday for a two-day peace mission during which he is expected to hold consultations on the progress achieved in the implementation of the January 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the north and south.
An official at the ex-Kenyan leader’s office said Moi who was named the country’s special envoy for Sudan will meet Sudanese President Omar Bashir Al-Bashir in Khartoum.
Moi who led the east African nation for 24 years before standing down after the 2002 elections would discuss progress report on comprehensive peace agreement signed two years ago.
Gen. Lazarus Sumbeiywo, former Kenya’s special envoy to Sudan and chief mediator in the Sudanese peace process which ended the protracted civil war between the north and south, is expected to accompany Moi during his talks in Khartoum.
Both parties to the landmark peace accord, namely the former Southern rebels, the Sudan’s People’s Liberation Army (SPLM) and then Khartoum government have welcomed the appointment of Moi as the special envoy to the Africa’s largest country.
Moi was appointed by his successor, President Mwai Kibaki last month to help facilitate north-south peace deal whose implementation has been delayed.
The retired Kenyan leader has convinced the Sudanese parties to explain their grievances to an IGAD Heads of State Summit to be convened soon to address the lapses in the CPA implementations.
IGAD members include Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.
Regional analysts say south Sudan, which is currently implementing a peace agreement to end Africa’s longest running civil war with the northern government, is strategically important for Kenya in terms of economic interests.
The ex-Kenyan leader was very instrumental in spearheading the peace talks which culminated into the signing of the CPA in Nairobi in January 2005.
Since leaving power, Moi who has set up foundation, Moi Africa Institute, working for peace in the region, is credited for uniting southern Sudan militia under a deal brokered in Nairobi in 2005 after the signing of the CPA in Nairobi two years ago.