Reports that the South Sudan government delegation walked out of the talks on December 14 are raising concern that the efforts to bring the non-signatories of the 2018 peace agreement to the fold, could have reached a dead end.
While the South Sudan Opposition Movement Alliance (SSOMA) believe that the government side is no longer interested in the talks after the government delegation insisted on renegotiating the already initialled eight protocols, the government side insists that it is interested in ensuring that the Nairobi talks do not replace the 2018 peace agreement.
The government delegation led by senior presidential adviser, Kuol Manyang, returned to Juba on December 14 after 10 days of unfruitful negotiations. The talks—that started in Nairobi on May 9—resumed on December 4 after three months of lull as the government delegation consulted in Juba.
When the government delegation returned, it comprised fresh faces that were not party to the eight protocols that had been initialled by the previous delegation in the opposition.
This raised concerns among SSOMA members with Pagan Amum observing that the opposition hoped that the new team had come to address the remaining protocol of the Tumaini Consensus, and not to raise fresh concerns and revisions to derail the process.
It came to pass. SSOMA Secretary-General and spokesperson of the opposition in a statement, Lual Dau said in a statement on December 14 that talk, known as the Tumaini Initiative had reached a deadlock.
He said that the new government delegation came with new positions and demanded fresh negotiations, clear proof that the government did not only change the delegation but also changed its position.
“Instead of focusing on negotiating responsibility-sharing (power-sharing) protocol being the only outstanding issue, the government wanted to reopen all the initialled eight protocols and renegotiate the Tumaini consensus from scratch,” said Mr Dau.
However, Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol, who is also the deputy leader of the government delegation said that they wanted their observations on repetitions and mechanisms and structures that are parallel to and contradict the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) be discussed first before the talks proceed.
SSOMA insisted that only the remaining responsibility-sharing (power-sharing) and the conclusion of the talks should have been discussed and that they were not ready to discuss the rest.
Before the talks took a break in July due to disagreement on the nature and the tone of some protocols, the talks—that began in May—had agreed on eight protocols.
They include; Confidence-Building Measures; Communal violence and Land Issues; Justice Sector Reforms, Transitional Justice and Accountability; Security Sector Reforms; Permanent Constitution Process; Economic Recovery; Humanitarian Access and Support; and Responsibility/Power Sharing.
According to the Deputy Chief Mediator, Dr Mohamed Guyo, the talks have made significant progress and the government delegation had asked for a short adjournment to return to Juba for consultations.
He said that the parties had agreed on four main areas that will be discussed when the talks resume on January 15, 2025.
They are the Relationship between the Tumaini Initiative R-ARCSS; the repetition, mechanisms, structures, and contradictions between the Tumaini Initiative Protocols and R-ARCSS; Responsibility Sharing and Concluding the Tumaini Initiative.
“The Tumaini Initiative remains committed to fostering an inclusive and lasting peace for the people of South Sudan. We urge all stakeholders to maintain momentum and prioritize the aspirations of South Sudanese citizens for unity, stability, and development,” said Dr Guyo.
The talks between the government and non-signatories to the 2018 peace agreement—commonly known as the holdouts—started way back in 2020 in Rome Italy, under the sponsorship of the Catholic Community of Sant’ Egidio.
In November 2022, the government suspended its participation in the Rome peace talks till further notice, with the opposition crying foul that Juba was not interested in peace by refusing to discuss pertinent issues that are crucial to peace in South Sudan.
In December 20023, South Sudan president Salva Kiir wrote to Kenyan president, William Ruto to take over the mediation from Sant’ Egidio on grounds that there was no progress in two years.
The talks resumed in Nairobi in May 2024 under the leadership of Gen(Rtd) Lazarus Sumbeiywo, the Kenyan former soldier who mediated the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the North and South, that led to the independence of South Sudan in July 2011.
