SOUTH SUDAN PRESIDENT BEGINS STATE VISIT (Day 1) The President of the Republic of South Sudan, His Excellency General Salva Kiir Mayardit, arrived this morning to begin a three day State Visit from the 24th to the 26th June 2013, at the invitation of His Excellency Lieutenant General Seretse Khama Ian Khama. The visit is expected to strengthen and deepen ongoing cooperation between the two countries. The visiting President was given a ceremonial welcome upon his arrival at Sir Seretse Khama Airport by H.E. the President, who was joined by H.H. the Vice President, Dr. Ponatshego Kedikilwe, the Hon. Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Margaret Nasha, Cabinet Ministers and members of the Diplomatic Corps. The two Presidents then proceeded to a State Luncheon. In welcoming remarks at the event, President Khama observed that it was a pleasure to now be hosting President Kiir for the first time as President of an independent republic, adding that he was, however, no stranger to Botswana having been here on previous occasions. He went on to note the visit came at a critical junction in South Sudan’s nation building process, which Botswana was pleased to support as a partner for mutual benefit. President Khama paid further tribute to the determination of the South Sudanese in securing their freedom and that it was in recognition of this that Botswana had been among the first countries to recognise the new nation’s independence on the day of its birth on the 9 of July 2011. His Excellency was also pleased to note that since then there has been progress in bilateral cooperation between the two countries as evidenced by a number of exchange visits by Senior Government Officials to promote collaboration in such areas as agriculture, education, health, mining, local government, human resource development, productivity improvement and anti-corruption, as well as legal and security matters, which have already begun to yield dividends. President Khama went on to note that for us in Southern Africa, a stable East Africa is a critical partner in the envisaged plan to create free trade among member countries of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Community, which includes South Sudan. In his response, President Kiir expressed his happiness for the invitation to come back to his ‘second home’ noting that he had first visited our country in 1988. He went on to note that insofar as his country had been born out of a long war it had much to learn from Botswana in terms of how to forge ahead with peaceful development. He in particular cited Botswana’s positive record of natural resource management as a benchmark. General Kiir also noted that like Botswana his country had a high ratio of cattle to people and could thus further draw on Botswana’s experience. The visiting President also spoke of his countries continued strains with (northern) Sudan, thanking Botswana for its continued understanding at international fora. In conclusion, he noted that his country looked forward to establishing a permanent mission in Gaborone in the near future, while further inviting President Khama to come to Juba next month for the country’s independence celebrations. Following the luncheon the two leaders held official talks at the Office of the President where deliberated on issues of mutual concern including prospects for deepened cooperation in the fields of health, education, agriculture and mining legislation, among others. Thereafter, President Kiir paid a courtesy call to the National Assembly, where he was received by the Honourable Speaker. President Kiir’s visit continues tomorrow morning at Mmadinare, where he will be the guest of honour at the official opening of Mmadinare Senior Secondary School, before visiting Orapa later in the day.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 15:04:41 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015