South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit left Kenya on Tuesday for South Africa after a two-day visit during which he held talks with Kenyan President William Ruto, official sources told Radio Tamazuj.
Kiir departed Nairobi on Tuesday afternoon after meeting Ruto at State House on Monday, the sources said.
Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Human Capital Development and Special Programmes, Geoffrey Kiringa Ruku, who saw Kiir off at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, confirmed his departure in a post on X.
“I had the pleasure to see off His Excellency Salva Kiir Mayardit, the President of the Republic of South Sudan, as he left the country at JKIA following a two-day visit to the country for bilateral talks with His Excellency William Samoei Ruto, the President of the Republic of Kenya,” Ruku said.
During their meeting on Monday, Ruto said Kenya was ready to support South Sudan’s preparations for general elections scheduled for Dec. 22 and urged its political leaders to pursue dialogue and consensus.
“Kenya stands ready to support South Sudan in this endeavour while encouraging dialogue and consensus among all parties,” Ruto said in a post on X.
The meeting came less than two weeks after Kiir dissolved the transitional government and national legislature and appointed a caretaker administration.
South Sudan is scheduled to hold general elections on Dec. 22, after years of delays since independence in 2011. The government has said the vote will mark the end of the country’s prolonged transitional period.
Kiir has travelled to South Africa, but his press office had not issued an official statement on the purpose of the visit by the time of publication.
He last visited South Africa from Aug. 23 to Aug. 30, when he held talks with President Cyril Ramaphosa on South Sudan’s political transition and other bilateral and regional issues.
His latest visit comes just over six weeks after that trip.
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