Two factions of South Sudan's SPLM party in Juba have failed to show up for a meeting alongside former political detainees last week in Uganda to lay out important steps toward reunification of the fragmented party in the country.

The ruling party fractured in December 2013, leading to the ongoing civil war that has killed thousands and forced millions to seek refugees in neighbouring countries.

Those who skipped the meeting in Uganda include the faction loyal to President Salva Kiir and the SPLM-IO breakaway group in Juba led by First Vice President Taban Deng Gai.

But representatives of the faction made up of senior party officials who were detained when the conflict began in December 2013, travelled to Uganda for the meeting but was adjourned indefinitely due to the absence of the two factions.

The former detainees’ spokesman Kosti Manibe Ngai told Radio Tamazuj today that the reunification meeting did not take place because the two teams from Juba failed to show up in Uganda last week.

“Until the days passed and we gave up. The Ugandan government was making contacts after that and we still don’t know the results of the contacts,” he said.

He pointed out that their group didn’t know the reason for the two delegations’ failure to come for the meeting.

“We can also guess that probably they are not interested. Maybe they have decided that the process is no longer useful to them, so that is only a guess. All we know is that they failed to show up and that they did want to go,” he said.

“It was not because of means because the Ugandans sent them tickets and the hotel accommodation was free,” he added.

Attempts by Radio Tamazuj to contact acting secretary general of SPLM party Jemma Nunu Kumba and SPLM-IO secretary general Dhieu Mathok were not successful.