Committee on Governance during the intra-South Sudanese talks; photo- Emmanuel Akile

The church has taken over the mediation of the intra-South Sudanese talks which started on Friday morning.

During the talks, five issues in Chapter I and II of the peace agreement will be deliberated upon.

The two chapters, which deal with governance and security, are the basis of the continuation of the second round of the High Level Revitalization Forum.

The Intra-South Sudanese talks is expected to take two days.

According to Information Minister Michael Makuei, a leadership committee of the church and two sub-committees have been formed for the South to South talks.

“The church ultimately being part and parcel of the people of South Sudan, they definitely understand the problem of the people of South Sudan better than others,” said he said.

The committees will come up with the agenda of Friday’s talks.

Parties have also submitted their positions to church mediation team so that the actual deliberations on contentious issues can begin.

Mr Makuei said the outcome of the deliberation of exclusively South Sudanese talks will then be handed over to IGAD:

“In case they fail, they will hand it over to IGAD. In case they succeed, they will still hand the outcome to IGAD and IGAD will take it from there.”

The church mediation team is being headed by the Archbishop of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, Justin Badi.

The continuation of the High Level Revitalization Forum started yesterday in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.