A church leader says he is pessimistic about the IGAD-proposed meeting between President Salva Kiir and his rival Dr. Riek Machar.

The face-to-face meeting is one of the recommendations from IGAD Council of Ministers’ extra-ordinary session that was held in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, last week.

The two leaders have expressed willingness to meet each other for the sake of peace in the country.

Western countries, especially the United Kingdom, have applauded the move.

However, Retired Bishop Enock Tombe believes that this meeting will not work.

“In principle, it is a good idea. But of course the question is, who is the convener? And how is it going to be done,” Rt Bishop Tombe stressed.

“When you talk about relation building or trust building, I’m not sure if it is a political process. It is more spiritual, more psychological – more to do with a culture.

“And I think what comes to mind is the Wunlit Conference of 1999.”

Named after the village where it was held in Tonj in 1999, Wunlit Peace Conference is said to be the most comprehensively documented case of a people-to-people peace process in in the then region.

It brought about an immediate cessation of hostilities between Dinka and Nuer communities. Cattle raiding, the abduction of women and children, and killings came to an end after the conference.

“That process [WPC] was successful because people were allowed to speak their minds, for days,” he added.

The rivals have not met since Dr. Machar fled the renewed conflict in 2016. Since then, he has been under house arrest in South Africa.

On Wednesday, a Kenyan political analyst suggested that: “It’s time Salva Kiir and Riek Machar be locked in one room perhaps with Raila Odinga for one week and they come out hugging each other for the sake of South Sudan,” an idea the bishop rejects.

“If it is done at political level, I’m not sure if it will succeed. It should be done more like the Wunlit. Let people talk,” Rt. Bishop Tombe added.