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The Tumaini (Hope) Initiative in Kenya between South Sudan’s transitional government and intransigent opposition faces uncertainty as President Salva Kiir’s military sends mixed signals about the talks.
On Thursday, the peace monitoring body R-JMEC held its monthly meeting in Juba to discuss progress in the peace process and preparations for elections.
Kenya-led peace talks began in Nairobi on May 9 but were halted last month due to Representatives of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In Opposition (SPLM-IO), led by First Vice President Riek Machar, walked out of the meeting.
Machar believes the agreement signed in Nairobi will undermine the provisions of the 2018 peace deal. The agreement, formally known as the Revitalized Agreement, was signed by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, led by President Salva Kiir, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition, as well as other political factions.
The talks in Nairobi are aimed at attracting opposition groups that were not part of the 2018 peace deal. Common pagans and the South Sudan United Front, led by Paul Malong Awan, former chief of staff of the South Sudan People’s Defense Force.
The mediation team and members of Kiir’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement party held a series of discussions in Juba to persuade Machar not to abandon the Toumani Initiative.
However, Cabinet Affairs Minister Martin Elia Lomuro, a close ally of the president, said the protocol of the Kenya-led peace initiative was parallel to the 2018 peace deal.
Minister Lomulo told the R-JMEC meeting that the Toumani Initiative aims to undermine the gains of the Revitalized Agreement on Conflict Resolution in South Sudan (R-ARCSS).
“You are basically discrediting the merits of the R-ARCSS, which has sustained this country for almost six years. You are also questioning the people who are working to maintain the peace, questioning whether they have kept the country generally at peace,” Lomulo said.
Lomulo expressed concern that the Kenya-led peace talks would jeopardize established structures and systems, stressing that the Tumani Initiative should be aligned with the R-ARCSS.
“We said that while the rest of the consensus is welcome, it should be aligned with the R-ARCSS. It should be an annex to the R-ARCSS and not a replacement or parallel protocol to the R-ARCSS because it would jeopardize existing established structures and systems,” he said.
He added: “I want to make this clear because when we say this, people say these are the people who are against peace. No. We want this peace to continue undisturbed because our responsibility is only to allow the country to have elections. We are almost there.”
Meanwhile, the UN Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative Cong Guang called on the Government to combine the Tumaini Initiative with the revitalized peace agreement to accelerate the achievement of lasting peace and stability.
“Since our last meeting, the negotiations in Nairobi and the facilitation of the Toumani Initiative have made progress and reached agreement on a number of protocols. Meanwhile, in Juba, the High-Level Standing Committee on the Status of Implementation of the Road Map has completed its report.”
Cong Gang added: “We expect the parties to make urgent decisions on the connection between the Toumani Initiative and the revitalized peace agreement, and to clarify the implementation of the remaining unfinished tasks in the road map.”
In July 2024, the transitional government and opposition groups in Nairobi signed Eight protocols of the Toumani Initiative aim to accelerate the achievement of lasting peace and stabilityThese include humanitarian access and support, trust and confidence building measures, a permanent ceasefire, reform of security arrangements, communal conflicts, armed civilians and land disputes and grantors’ protocols.
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