The rebel National Salvation Front (NAS) led by Gen. Thomas Cirillo Swaka has reiterated that they will never take part in the ongoing Tumaini Initiative peace talks mediated by the Government of Kenya between the Government of South Sudan and holdout opposition groups.
In December 2023, President Salva Kiir requested President William Ruto of Kenya to take over the mediation lead from the Community of Sant’Egidio in Rome, Italy, saying that the talks with the holdout opposition group had taken long without reaching a solution. The talks started in Nairobi on 9 May but halted in July after representatives of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO) led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar walked out but resumed last week after a newly constituted government delegation arrived in Nairobi.
Samuel Suba, the spokesperson of the rebel outfit, told Radio Tamazuj Monday that their position has not changed regarding the Tumaini Initiative peace talks underway in Nairobi.
“Our stand has been clear that those talks are just a renewal of the 2018 revitalized peace agreement which we did not agree to or sign because it did not address solutions for South Sudan to attain genuine peace. We reminded the Kenyan mediation team about our stand at the beginning of the talks and we also reminded them about many things including how the Government of South Sudan moved the talks that were being mediated in Rome by the Community of Sant’ Egidio to Nairobi without consulting or informing the concerned parties,” he explained. “We know that the government had ulterior motives and just wants opposition groups to go to Juba and contain them there just like what happened to the SPLM-IO and other opposition groups and yet the 2018 peace agreement is not being implemented.”
Suba added: “So, there is nothing concrete happening in Nairobi and what is going on is just politics and nothing positive will materialize out of it. The Tumaini Initiative came up with protocols that were initialed and now the government formed a new team and is changing positions, so, nothing is happening.”
He insisted that the government in Juba was not ready for peace therefore NAS was not ready for the charade and wanted real peace that would give citizens their rights.
“We have never received an official invitation and we have only heard them speaking in the media. They are even scared about how to send us an invitation because there is nothing new they can give us. After all, they just have lies. Even Sant’ Egidio has not told us anything. We have no ill intentions towards the people participating at the talks and we wish them luck if the process will bring peace to South Sudan,” Suba stated. “We know the government in Juba well and they are pretending to be talking peace but when they return to Juba, they plan and implement other things that are contrary and we do not want to be part of the confusion going on.”
The NAS mouthpiece contends that the Kenyan mediation is also not honest and has an agreement with the regime in Juba because President Kiir is the one who approached the Kenyan President to be the mediator.
“So, what did they plan and agree on? How can someone who has a case also plan and agree with the mediator? This means that there will be no impartiality. Secondly, Nairobi is not safe and many things happened there to opposition figures and they have evidence and they admitted it. They did not give any guarantees that these things will not happen again,” Suba asserted. “The agenda is also not clear and they said it will be complementary to the 2018 peace agreement but we have been clear on this and did not sign that agreement. Joining the talks would mean we do not have principles and a direction. We will definitely not join those talks.”