The United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton’s seven-nation tour of Africa that began yesterday July 31 in Senegal will also take her to Africa's newest nation, South Sudan. The visit includes a courtesy call on former South African President and anti-Apartheid crusader, 94-year-old Nelson Mandela.
The Sudan Tribune newspaper cited an announcement by the US Department of State as saying the South Sudan capital, Juba, will be the second stop in the trip that runs from July 31 to August 10. Other laps include Uganda, Kenya, Malawi and South Africa. Clinton will be the most senior US official to visit South Sudan since it became independent in July last year after voting to secede from Sudan as part of a 2005 peace agreement.
Reuters news agency reported that while Clinton's public focus will be on Africa's democratic achievements and economic potential, the trip also underscores US security ties in the face of an array of growing threats from Islamist extremists and narcotics cartels. Clinton is expected to highlight US programmes on development, education, HIV/AIDS and economic interests in a continent whose rich resources and enviable growth rates are attracting an increasing number of other trade partners. She is likely to emphasize projects for women and girls, said Uganda’s New Vision newspaper
While in South Sudan, Clinton will meet President Salva Kiir to reaffirm US support and encourage progress in negotiations with Sudan, CNN said. The new neighbours have been negotiating under a August 2 UN Security Council deadline to resolve a host of post-independence issues. They include the transportation of South Sudanese oil via Sudan, disputed border regions, security and citizenship.
Uganda on the other hand is a key US partner in promoting regional security particularly in Somalia and in efforts to counter the Lord's Resistance Army. A social media campaign earlier this year by the non-profit group, Invisible Children, focused worldwide attention on the Lord's Resistance Army and its leader, Joseph Kony. The African Union this year stepped up efforts to capture Kony, deploying 5,000 troops in March after increased attacks by his forces displaced thousands of people in Uganda, South Sudan, DRC and the Central African Republic, according to UN estimates.
