The Kenya-led Tumaini (hope) Peace Initiative between the South Sudan government and the holdout opposition groups will resume Nairobi on November 11, the mediator and opposition officials announced Friday.
This development follows Kenyan President William Ruto’s visit to Juba on Wednesday, where he held talks with President Salva Kiir, First Vice President Riek Machar and other key stakeholders in the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU).
President Ruto said in a statement after the trip that the parties to the South Sudan peace process have agreed to resume mediation in Nairobi to address outstanding issues.
The talks are part of the peace process, launched in May 2024, aiming to mediate conflicts involving holdout opposition groups that have yet to endorse the 2018 Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS).
So far, nine protocols have been agreed upon, marking significant progress in the peace negotiations.
“I would like to confirm to the public that today we have received an invitation letter from the chief mediator, Gen. Lazarus Sumbeiywo, on the resumption of the talks on Monday, November 11,” Lual Dau, Secretary-General of the SSOMA faction at the Tumaini Initiative , told Radio Tamazuj.
According to Lual, the talks will be between the government and the opposition, and the goal is to finalize the peace process within two weeks.
He pointed out that the talks would also involve the other stakeholders. “As members of the opposition, we are ready for the resumption of the talks. We want to rescue our country and utter the country in the era of peace and stability,” he said.
When asked about the outstanding issues to be discussed next week, the opposition official said: “Actually, we don’t have points of divergence with the government team. We agreed almost on everything, and what is left to be discussed is the responsibility-sharing protocol. We expect to sign a peace agreement in less than two weeks.”
In a letter addressed to the parties, Chief Mediator Gen. Lazarus Sumbeiywo said: “Following the resolution on the way forward for the Tumaini Peace Initiative, the High-Level Mediation for South Sudan would like to inform the Stakeholders that the talks will resume on November 11 2024 with a view of concluding within the proposed time frame of two weeks.”
The Kenya-led peace talks encountered a setback in July, when some South Sudanese government representatives raised concerns over specific mechanisms proposed in the negotiations.
The Tumaini Initiative includes participation from major holdout groups, including the Real Sudan People’s Liberation Movement led by Pagan Amum; the South Sudan United Front, led by former SSPDF Chief of Staff Paul Malong Awan; and the South Sudan People’s Movement/Army (SSPM/A), under the leadership of Gen. Stephen Buoy Rolnyang.
Major international donors in South Sudan including the Troika group of nations have voiced support for the Tumaini Initiative.