The opposition groups negotiating peace with South Sudan’s transitional government of national unity at the peace talks christened the “Tumani (Hope) Initiative” mediated by the Government of Kenya on Monday said the newly constituted government delegation did not turn up at the talks as promised.
Following President Ruto’s visit to Juba on 6 November, President Kiir promptly reconstituted the RTGONU delegation to the Tumaini Initiative. Last Thursday, Gen. Lazaro Sumbeiywo, the chief mediator for the high-level mediation process for South Sudan, confirmed the resumption of the talks on 18 November in an invitation to the parties after the government delegation failed to turn up on 11 November.
“Last week, the South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance (SSOMA) and other Opposition Groups received the second invitation for the resumption of the Tumaini Peace Initiative on Monday 18 November 2024. However, the Government of South Sudan, as expected, failed to turn up again,” said Lual Dau, Secretary-General and Spokesperson of SSOMA and Opposition Groups in a press statement on Monday. “Meanwhile, the Opposition, Stakeholders, and regional and international Observers have honored the invitation. This repeated abscondment of the R-TGONU shows a dearth of political will to rescue the State from imminent collapse and total disintegration resulting from its failure to implement its own agreement, the R-ARCSS over the past six (6) years.”
“This attitude clearly demonstrates the Government’s insensitivity to the plight of the people of South Sudan. The case in point is the failure of the R-TGONU to pay the civil servants, the army, and other organized forces for over a year as a result of endemic corruption,” he added.
According to Dau, whenever the government receives money earmarked for paying salaries, it is often diverted and looted by cartels and the government does not care that the population is impacted by the worst humanitarian disaster, catastrophic floods, persistent communal violence, and rampant insecurity.
“To our dismay, the R-TGONU has changed its delegation after having negotiated and agreed to the Tumaini Consensus. The new delegation is largely composed of anti-Tumaini elements. With that, it is clear the Government is reneging on the Tumaini Consensus which it had negotiated,” the statement read in part. “This shows the serious lack of good faith and unwillingness to conclude the Tumaini peace process. This explains why the Government failed to turn up for the signing of the Tumaini Consensus on 16 September 2024 as agreed by the Parties and Stakeholders. The Opposition and Stakeholders remain on the negotiating table and have been patiently waiting for the Government delegation to return and sign the Tumaini Consensus as agreed.”
However, when contacted by Radio Tamazuj, Kornelio Kon Ngu, the Deputy Speaker in the National Legislature and a leading member of the Other Political Parties (OPP), said the Tumaini Initiative is moving on well, and last week a new government delegation was formed and President Kiir sent a message to Kenyan President William Ruto about the development.
He rubbished rumors that the government has no funds to send the delegation to Nairobi for the talks.
“Those are all lies and the government and parliament are working so there is money and the delegation is just making the necessary preparations,” he said. “As OPP, we have no problem with the Tumaini Initiative and we are for peace and we have people who will go and attend the peace talks.”
On responsibility sharing, Kon said the OPP has 8 percent of the positions in the 2018 revitalized peace agreement and has no people in the holdout groups so they do not have to relinquish any of their seats.
“Pagan Amum is with the Former Detainees who are represented in the government of national unity and they have a vice president, two ministers, and ten members of parliament. So, if he comes back, he will find a position,” Kon explained. “Gen. Thomas Cirillo has representation in the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) and they do not have any problem. Gen. Paul Malong Awan was given money by the president to go to Nairobi for treatment and when he comes back he will find his place in the SPLM Party.”
He added: “Gen. Stephen Buay will also be accommodated and the other person is Simon Gatwech and he will find his place in SPLAM-IO. So, as OPP, we have no holdout group and we will welcome these people to come and join their parties.”
Kon said that the agreement that will be reached in Nairobi will be an annex to the 2018 peace agreement and that the parties at the talks will go to Juba and join their respective political groups that will then contest the elections in December 2026.
“The government delegation will be in Nairobi within the week, God willing and my message to the holdout groups is to come and join the implementation of peace in South Sudan,” Kon concluded.