KENYA TO STEER SOUTH SUDAN PEACE TALKS

Kenya’s President Ruto is taking over as chair of South Sudan’s peace process - at the personal request of South Sudanese president Salva Kiir. Although a peace deal was struck in 2018, a number of armed holdout groups refused to sign. The aim is to get them on board so that elections can be held in December 2024.

Ruto’s agreement to lead the process may surprise some, as he was rejected as a mediator in the civil war raging in South Sudan’s northern neighbour Sudan.

South Sudan became independent in 2011 in a referendum held after a bloody civil war to break away from Sudan. But conflict broke out in the new country in 2013 after an internal political spat in the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement.

What do you think Ruto can bring to the table?