This archive report was first published on 25 November 2019.
On November 22, 2019, a United Nations panel of experts reported that Kenya and Uganda have played significant roles in the ongoing stalemate in South Sudan.
The panel stated that Uganda's deployment of troops in Yei River State last month was a violation of the international arms embargo on South Sudan, emboldening the hardline positions of the South Sudan government.
Kenya, on the other hand, has not demonstrated sufficient political and diplomatic will to consistently support the peace process, the panel said in a report to the UN Security Council.
Both Ethiopia and Kenya have been criticized for failing to use their leadership roles in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) to exert regional leverage on South Sudan's antagonists.
The panel noted that the government of South Sudan has benefited from the inconsistent approach of the region, particularly in regards to Salva Kiir's administration.
Specifically, the panel stated that the bilateral meetings between President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and President Salva Kiir of South Sudan in Nairobi on July 1-2, 2019, have not led to sustained pressure necessary to fully implement the pre-transitional provisions of the agreement.
The Kenyan government has also failed to respond to the panel's inquiries regarding apparent violations of the UN asset freeze and travel ban on South Sudanese individuals included on a Security Council sanctions list.
The panel identified accounts in an unnamed Kenyan bank related to Malek Reuben Riak Rengu, a former South Sudan senior security official accused of overseeing the killings of civilians.
Additionally, Kenyan authorities failed to request an exemption to the UN travel ban in the case of Gabriel Jok Riak, who participated in East African Community military games in Nairobi in August.
Paul Malong Awan, another individual subject to the UN travel ban, was allowed to fly from Nairobi to South Africa in July on a Kenya Airways flight, and later returned to Nairobi on the same flight.
The UN panel's report was compiled prior to the lapsing of the November 12 deadline for formation of a unity government in South Sudan in accordance with a peace agreement reached last year.
However, the panel's report indicated that the terms of the agreement were unlikely to be honored, leading to a dangerous stalemate in South Sudan.
