President William Ruto has engaged with South Sudan’s main opposition Hold-Out Group, reaching key agreements on the mediation process for peace talks in the East African nation.
This comes amid growing diplomatic concerns over Kenya’s hosting of Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from neighboring Sudan.
According to the Head of State, following the meeting requested by President Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan, both parties agreed to adjourn the Tumaini Peace Initiative talks to March to facilitate consultations.
”Met the Opposition Hold-Out Group of South Sudan and agreed, at the request of the South Sudan Government delegation, that the mediation process that has been going on in Nairobi adjourns until March 2025 to facilitate consultations that will inform the way forward,” Ruto shared in a statement.
Leaders from the South Sudan Hold-Out Group during a meeting at State House Nairobi on February 20, 2025.
PCS
”At the request of President Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan, Kenya has been facilitating the mediation process for the past 11 months in an effort to resolve the political stalemate that has resulted in a serious humanitarian situation and difficult security challenges.”
The Opposition Hold-Out Group delegation was led by Generals Pagan Amum, Paul Malong, Stephen Buoy, and Mario Lada, along with Lual Dau and Cirinho Hiteng.
The meeting comes almost seven months after South Sudan’s main opposition political outfit, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement Opposition (SPLM-IO) led by Riek Machar announced in July last year that it had withdrawn from the ongoing peace talks in Kenya dubbed the Tumaini Peace Initiative.
Machar in a statement argued that the talks were overstepping the mandate and undermining South Sudan’s existing revitalized peace agreement and sovereignty.
Machar further faulted the process over violations of the protocols it introduced, arguing that it reportedly included parallel institutions that duplicated Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) provisions and encroached on South Sudan’s national laws.
“In light of the mentioned development, the SPLM/SPLA (IO) rejects the initiative and declares its withdrawal from the Tumaini Initiative as it has deviated from the intended purpose of being an Annex to R-ARCSS and not a stand-alone agreement,” a statement from Machar stated.
South Sudan has been experiencing political instability from the standoff between the main opposition parties and the government over key issues affecting the youngest nation in the world.
Some of the issues include security, ceasefire instruments, humanitarian access, trust building, land disputes, communal violence, arms proliferation, and the role of the guarantors in the country.
First Vice President Riek Machar leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO)
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South Sudan News Agency