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South Sudan’s First Vice President Riek Machar wrote to the Kenyan mediation team, saying its attempt to establish a parallel institution deviated from its mandate.
In a letter dated June 19, 2024, leaders of the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In-Opposition raised seven points of concern to the mediation team led by retired Kenyan General Lazarus Sumbeiywo, Radio Tamazuj reported.
The letter was also copied to Deputy Chief Mediator Mohamed Ali Guido, Co-Mediator and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Special Envoy for South Sudan Ismail Wais, and Co-Mediator Tobias Muller, representing the Community of Sant’Egidio in Rome.
“As one of the leaders of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan, I write to your Excellency to express my concerns regarding the documents drafted by the mediators entitled the Tumani Consensus and the Framework for the Implementation of a Permanent Constitution and Sustainable Peace in South Sudan,” Machar wrote.
Machar, who signed the 2018 peace deal with President Salva Kiir, said the document did not recognize the Revitalized Agreement and appeared aimed at Replaces 2018 Agreement.
He insisted that some parts of the document should establish different institutions from the Revitalized Agreement.
“The parties that signed the Revitalized Peace Agreement (RPA) act together, which is the only body with the power to initiate amendments to the agreement. This document authorizes the Toumani Initiative to be an annex to the Revitalized Agreement and not a standalone agreement,” Machar explained. “Given the above, Toumani has abrogated the Revitalized Agreement, which was meant to complement the Revitalized Agreement by ensuring the participation of non-signatories in its implementation. As such, the Toumani Initiative has strayed from its intended mandate.”
Meanwhile, Machar’s press secretary, Puke Bosi Baruang, confirmed to Radio Tamazuje that the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In Opposition has expressed concerns over the content of the draft Nairobi Peace Forum agreement.
“We find in the draft that the Nairobi Peace Initiative is being used to replace the revitalized peace agreement – the draft agreement discusses the institutions that are to be established. It is important to note that another agreement cannot simply replace the 2018 agreement,” he clarified.
The Nairobi talks are between President Salva Kiir’s government and opposition groups that did not participate in the 2018 peace deal that ended five years of civil war.
On May 9, South Sudan’s government and resistance groups launched peace talks in Kenya, with African presidents calling for an end to the conflict that has plagued the country for years.
The mediation was led by General Sumbewo, who also brokered the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, which granted South Sudan autonomy and facilitated an independence referendum in 2011.
In December 2023, President Kiir asked Kenyan President William Ruto to take over mediation efforts for the Sant’Egidio community, complaining that the negotiations were taking too long.
In February this year, President Ruto accepted the proposal after consultation with the Sant’Egidio community.
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