President Salva Kiir has received a new message from Kenyan
President William Ruto regarding the Tumaini peace talks, delivered by a Kenyan
delegation headed by Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region, Charles Keter,
in Juba.
The delegation conveyed festive season greetings from
President Ruto, extending warm wishes to the people and government of South
Sudan.
The meeting comes at a crucial time as Kenya intensifies
efforts to urge the South Sudanese government and opposition holdout groups to
prioritize peace for the nation’s well-being. Kenya has played a pivotal role
in mediating peace talks and supporting South Sudan’s journey toward stability.
“The Head of the delegation, Charles Keter, reaffirmed
Kenya’s commitment to facilitating dialogue between the South Sudanese
Government and opposition holdout groups through the Nairobi Tumaini Initiative,”
statement from the office of the president reads on Monday.
Ruto’s message reaffirming Kenya's commitment to mediating
the Tumaini peace talks come amidst a fresh impasse. The South Sudanese government
delegation recently pulled back from the talks for consultations after reaching
a deadlock with the holdout groups over the initial protocols.
After months of the first deadlock following SPLM-IO’s withdrawal, the Tumaini peace talks were relaunched on December 4, aiming to
reach an agreement with non-signatories within 14 days. The goal was to
deliver a symbolic Christmas gift to South Sudanese citizens.
However, the talks fell short of this ambition, ending
instead in a fresh deadlock over the initial protocols. This setback has
prompted the government to reconsider its strategy for advancing the peace
process as talks resume in early January 2025.
South Sudan's Foreign Affairs Minister, Ramadan Mohamed
Abdallah Goc, expressed gratitude for Kenya’s unwavering support, acknowledging
its crucial role in promoting unity and durable peace among South Sudanese.
The Tumaini Initiative, meaning 'hope' in Swahili, is a
high-level mediation process launched in May 2024. It aims to include all
holdout groups that did not sign the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the
Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS).
The initiative seeks to foster consensus and advance the ongoing peace process, with the ultimate goal of ensuring long-term peace and stability in the region as the country prepares for its first-ever general elections scheduled for December 2026.
