South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir named a new cabinet on Thursday, including former rebels and members of the opposition, an implementation of the peace deal aimed at ending the tragic two-year conflict.
The presidential decree which was aired on state television and radio said that a third of the ministers in the 30-member “national unity” cabinet were members of the SPLM-IO party led by Kiir’s long-term rival Riek Machar.
Riek Machar returned to the capital Juba on Tuesday and was immediately sworn in as vice president under President Salva Kiir.
South Sudan descended into violence in December 2013 after President Kiir accused Riek Machar, his then deputy, of plotting a coup against his rule.
Machar refuted the claims but went ahead to mobilize a rebel force to fight the government.
The two-year war killed thousands and forced more than 2.3 million people to flee the world’s youngest country.
The two factions were pressurized into signing the peace deal by the United States, the United Nations and other powers, in a move to end the violence and bring peace into the country.
