A high-level meeting of South Sudan’s SPLM factions in Nairobi failed to reach a breakthrough after President Salva Kiir rejected a peace proposal put forth earlier by the East African regional bloc IGAD, according to the rebel faction SPLM-IO.
The accusation from the rebel group comes after a meeting between the SPLM-IO leader Riek Machar and SPLM-in-Government (SPLM-Juba) leader Salva Kiir at State House Nairobi in the presence of President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Uhuru has pushed Kenya into a leading role as facilitator of inter-factional meetings in line with the Arusha Agreement on the Reunification of SPLM. His foreign minister and defense minister recently traveled to Juba after brokering the reunification of the exile group of SPLM ‘Former Detainees’ with the ruling party.
Radio Tamazuj previously reported that the Kenyan and Tanzanian-backed Arusha process was initially not coordinated with the Ethiopian-led IGAD process.
The ruling party in Juba has given its full support to the Arusha process whereas the SPLM-IO say that the reunification of the party cannot be accomplished without also a peace agreement brokered in Addis Ababa by IGAD.
Speaking at State House Kenya on Saturday, Kiir informed the meeting “that Juba had rejected both the IGAD Proposal for resolution of the conflict, and the IGAD Plus Mediation,” according to Mabior Garang, SPLM-IO spokesman.
Mabior explained that the agenda for the meeting included discussion of contentious points of the recent IGAD Proposal including questions of power-sharing in Equatoria and Bahr al Ghazal, federalism and compensation for victims of the conflict.
The South Sudanese president “appeared not to be aware of the agenda” and was uninterested in discussing the IGAD proposal, according to Mabior. He said that the meeting “failed to bear any tangible results.”
Separately, the newly reinstated secretary-general of Kiir’s party, Pagan Amum, told Radio Tamazuj on Sunday that consultations were still ongoing on how to end the war and he declined to comment on the talks because they were still continuing.
He said they would try to reach an agreement before 9 July.
Uhuru Kenyatta has urged the two war leaders to put aside their differences. In a statement on Saturday, State House Kenya quoted the president as saying, “Citizens look to the leaders for direction, so please take the lead in this peace process.”
“No amount of pressure or force will bring peace if you – as the leaders – do not agree to end the conflict,” said the Kenyan president.
In South Sudan, meanwhile, fighting broke out in Malakal after opposition forces advanced on the city. The attack happened on the same day as the meeting between Kiir and Machar in Nairobi.
Members of the Juba government are divided over whether to accept IGAD’s mediation and forge a deal in Addis Ababa or instead to attempt only to absorb the rebels back into the party through the Arusha process without any formal peace deal.
Some members of the military are opposed to both peace processes.
Photo: Uhuru Kenyatta with Salva Kiir, 27 June 2015 (State House Kenya/Facebook)