As South Sudan peace talks move to the final stages, delegates at the negotiations in Kenya have been asked to vacate hotel rooms due to financial constraints, a peace delegate has confirmed.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Sunday, Rajab Mohandis, a leading member of the People’s Coalition for Civil Action (PCCA) delegation in the peace talks, said the Kenyan-led mediation had informed them that the peace negotiations had reached final stages and that most of the protocols have already been covered.
Rajab said the only remaining protocol is on the power-sharing and implementation matrix. “The talks on power-sharing will only be between the transitional government and the opposition. The mediator has asked each group to select seven members to negotiate on the remaining protocol,” he said.
“So, the government will have seven members, the opposition will select seven members, and the other stakeholders will select seven people to finalize the implementation modalities and the talks on power-sharing,” he added.
Rajab pointed out that the mediation team informed the parties that there were not enough resources to accommodate all peace delegates to the Tumaini Initiative in a hotel.
Asked if power-sharing negotiations are ongoing, Rajab said the government delegation has returned to Juba for further consultation after the SPLM-IO team’s withdrawal from the talks.
“When the parties agree on power-sharing, all the protocols will be put together for final signing, which depends on the speed of the talks,” he said.
In a letter dated July 19, seen by Radio Tamazuj, the Kenyan-led mediation thanked the delegates to the Tumaini mediation process for participating actively in the talks over the past several weeks.
“However, for those delegates who have been released by their heads of delegation heads of the delegation, we kindly request you to check out of your room at Ole Sereni by Sunday, July 21, at 10:00 am. If you chose to stay in your room beyond that time, you will need to make arrangements directly with the hotel,” the letter read in part.
South Sudan peace talks that almost reached completion faced a stumbling block after Riek Machar’s SPLM-IO, which is part of the transitional government, pulled out of the Kenya-led Tumaini peace initiative.
Earlier this week, the transitional government and the holdout groups in Nairobi signed eight protocols encompassing security, ceasefire, communal violence, arms proliferation, land disputes, trust-building, humanitarian access, and the role of guarantors.
Peace negotiations between the South Sudan government and some holdout groups were launched in Kenya on May 9.
The mediation is led by former Kenya army commander Lazarus Sumbeiywo, who also mediated the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005 which gave Southern Sudan autonomy and later led to a referendum for independence in 2011.
In December 2023, South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir requested his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto to take over the mediation from the Community of Sant’Egidio in Rome, complaining that the talks had taken long in Rome’s hands without resolution.