Kiir-Olony meeting postponed till Monday

The meeting between President Salva Kiir and the leader of Agwelek forces, Gen. Johnson Olony, has been postponed until Monday.

Dr. Paul Achobek, the head of the Agwelek delegation, told The City Review that the busy schedule of the president did not allow the meeting to materialise.

“No, it did not happen today; it will be Monday. Friday is a busy day; the president had other meetings in the morning and also the council of ministers,” Dr. Achot said.

On Thursday, Achobek noted that the outcomes of the meeting would determine whether Gen. Olony would stay within the capital or return to Upper Nile, adding that his return to Malakal was imperative for the implementation of the Khartoum Peace Agreement.

The meeting is expected to encompass the integration of Agwelek forces into the SSPDF and their deployment, to be decided by the chief of defence forces.

“The president is the one to decide whether General Olony will stay here or go back; for the integration to happen, he will have to go back to Upper Nile. The forces will be part of the SSPDF, and the chief will decide where to take them.”

Olony came to Juba on Sunday to implement the Khartoum Peace Agreement for a full-pledged peace in Upper Nile State.

The government is expected to coordinate the necessary logistics for the entire process, including integration, deployment, and the setting up of coordination offices in Malakal and Bor.

Elsewhere, President Kiir met the king of the Chollo Kingdom, Kwongo Dak Padiet, in Juba yesterday. According to the Presidential Press Unit (PPU), the king “called on the holdout groups to join the peace process for the country to be in peace and for the citizens to realise the dividends of peace.”

“General Johnson Olony is now in Juba, and I called on those South Sudanese who are still outside to come and join the peace wagon,” he said, according to the press release by PPU.