The South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance (SSOMA) and Other Opposition Groups participating in the High-level Mediation for South Sudan facilitated by the Government of Kenya have denied authoring a position paper to the mediators demanding among other things the removal of the vice presidents in South Sudan apart from Dr. Riek Machar.
During an impromptu press conference in Nairobi on Sunday, Lual Dau, the Secretary of SSOMA and Other Opposition groups said the latter is the work of enemies of peace and intends to misinform the public and scuttle the talks.
The now controversial letter titled “Fundamental Issues for Achieving Peace in South Sudan” was addressed to Chief Mediator Gen. Lazaro Sumbeiywo and was purportedly signed by Pagan Amum Okiech, Real SPLM, Paul Malong Awan South Sudan Unit Front, Gen. Stephen Buoy Rolnyang, South Sudan People’s Movement and Gen. Mario Loku Thomas Jada, NAS Revolutionary Command Council.
“In our capacity as leaders of South Sudan Oppositional Alliance (SSOMA) and other opposition groups, we write to present our shared position on fundamental issues that we believe are critical to achieving a political settlement through the Tumaini Initiative. We received the document the Secretariat put together, and we are pleased with it,” the letter read in part. “Our purpose in this letter is to highlight and re-emphasize issues that we believe could make an agreement. The goal is to help the Principal Mediator, President Ruto, and you, the Chief Mediator, and your team, to zero in on some of these issues as the basis for brokering a political settlement. We present the issues along the same broad categories on governance, security, economy and social issues, justice, and constitutional making process.”
The letter proposed that not to humiliate President Salva Kiir, he should be given a definite timeline of three years to exit power and not stand in the scheduled elections and be given a guarantee against prosecution for corruption, war crimes, and crimes against humanity and be paid a one-off retirement package of USD 5 Million.
The letter also proposed that the country keep only two vice presidents including Dr. Riek Machar and that the other vice presidents all become presidential advisers. It also recommended that Dr. Machar not contest for elections after three years.
It projected a cabinet run by technocrats with the opposition leader taking a prime ministerial position to run a cabinet of 20 ministers, of which five will go to SSOMA and Other Opposition Groups. They also proposed to keep only the 275 elected members of parliament based on the 2010 elections (179 in the South and 96 to the national parliament in Khartoum) and 80 Council of States 80 members, each representing a county. The other proposals are to dissolve the National Security Services and the Presidential Guard which they said has become a private outfit.
However, while debunking the letter as fake, Lual Dau, the Secretary of SSOMA and Other Opposition groups in Nairobi, said it had come to the notice of the leaders of SSOMA and Other Opposition Groups that a document labeled “Fundamental Issues for Achieving Peace in South Sudan” is circulating on the social media.
“The document is purported to be the position of the leaders of SSOMA and Other Opposition Groups participating in the Tumaini Initiative,” he said. “We, the leaders of SSOMA and Other Opposition Groups condemn in the strong terms possible, this malicious activity of enemies of peace in South Sudan and the region, working tirelessly to distract the attention of the public and the parties participating in the Tumaini Initiative.”
Dau added: “We wish to inform the people of South Sudan, Delegates, and Mediation in the Tumaini Initiative, that there is reliable intelligence about those enemies of peace and they plan to publish and disseminate misinformation about this Tumaini Initiative with the aim of causing internal confusion among our forces and members; and to cause a collapse of the Initiative.”
He asked the armed forces of the parties at the talks, members and sympathizers, the Government of Kenya, the mediation team, and international partners to disregard the malicious acts of the enemies of peace.
“We remind the public that all official information from SSOMA and other Opposition Groups shall be communicated through our established communication office,” he stated. “We remain committed to the pursuit of lasting peace in our country, through the Tumaini Initiative, and shall not be distracted by the work of the enemies of peace against our determined participation in the Initiative.”