The resumption of the Tumaini Initiative talks on the South Sudan crisis was marred by confusion on Monday after the government side failed to turn up at the Nairobi venue.
Last Friday, Kenyan Chief Mediator Gen (rtd) Lazaro Sumbeiywo extended invitations to the government and the opposition, aimed at resolving the conflicts. That came after Kenyan President William Ruto’s visit to Juba, where he held talks with his South Sudan counterpart Salva Kiir, First Vice-President Riek Machar and other key stakeholders in the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU), to resume talks in Nairobi to address the outstanding issues.
A few hours after President Ruto’s visit to Juba, Kiir fired the Presidential Special Envoy and Head of the Government Delegation to the Tumaini Initiative, Albino Mathom.
The talks are part of the peace process, launched in May 2024, aiming to mediate conflicts involving the holdout opposition groups that have yet to endorse the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS).
Pagan Amum, who leads a faction of the holdout group, the South Sudan Opposition Movements Alliance (SSOMA), told Radio Tamazuj Monday afternoon that the talks failed to resume because the government delegation was absent.
“The government delegation has failed to show up at the venue of the talks. We met the mediation and asked them about the resumption as scheduled, but the mediation told us that the government delegation had not formed a team,” Amum said.
“We will be waiting for the mediators until further notice,” he added.
For his part, Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth, who is the rapporteur for the government delegation at the Tumaini Initiative, revealed that they had not received any instructions from President Salva Kiir’s office to attend the talks.
“The talks are supposed to begin today, but we have not yet received any directive to go,” Minister Makuei told Radio Tamazuj.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), Edmund Yakani, expressed disappointment with the government delegation.
“The absence of the government delegation today demonstrates a lack of consensus in constituting the delegation, including the appointment of the leader after the President dismissed the previous one,” he said.
“It seems the anti-Tumaini group is very influential in delaying the rollout of the Phase Two mediation,” he added.
The civil society activist urged President Kiir to appoint the government head of delegation, pointing out that it should be someone with political discipline and maturity in embracing compromises.
“I also urge the opposition leaders in Nairobi to embrace political compromise,” he said.
The Kenya-led peace talks encountered a setback in July, when some government representatives raised concerns over some proposed mechanisms.
The Tumaini Initiative brings together major holdout groups, including the Real Sudan People’s Liberation Movement of 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 Gen Stephen Buoy Rolnyang.
Major international donors in South Sudan, including the Troika group, have voiced support for the Tumaini Initiative.