President Salva Kiir receives Chadian President Idriss Déby, and other Heads of State at Juba International Airport on Saturday October 3, 2020. Courtesy| Office of the President -Republic of South Sudan

Regional leaders and government representatives are gathering in Juba for the highly organized signing ceremony of the Sudan Peace Agreement.

The event which is was expected to begin this morning at Dr. John Garang Mausoleum has been delayed to the heavy downpour.

But some regional Heads of State have already landed at Juba International Airport.

Those already in town include; President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed of Somalia, President Sahle-Work Zewde of Ethiopia, President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti, and President Idriss Déby of Chad.

The head of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan arrived in Juba yesterday ahead of the scheduled event.

The Sudanese transitional government and armed opposition groups are expected to sign the final peace agreement this afternoon.

The armed opposition groups are the Sudan Revolutionary Front, and rebel groups from the western Darfur and the southern states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

The parties signed the initial agreement at the end of August where they agreed on protocols for security, land ownership, transitional justice, power-sharing and the return of refugees.

It provides for the dismantling of armed forces and the integration of former combatants into the national army.

However, two armed movements have not yet signed up to the current deal.

They include a faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement, led by Abdel Wahil Muhammed al-Nur and a faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North — SPLM-N led by Abdelazuz al-Hilu.

They signed a separate deal with the Sudanese Prime Minister to separate religion from the state and entrench democracy in the society.

Today’s signing ceremony is expected to also be witnessed by Ugandan, Yoweri Museveni.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will address the event virtually.

Representatives of the Arab Republic of Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Qartar are also in attendance.

The Sudanese peace talks were initiated by President Salva Kiir in 2019 to resolve the root causes of conflicts in Sudan.

The talks brought together all political and military groups that fought the regime of the former President Omar Bashir.