The Kenyan government-mediated Tumaini Initiative is
expected to conclude by next week, according to the deputy mediator.
In a press briefing on Wednesday, Ambassador Mohamed Ali
Guyo stated, “The Tumaini Initiative had an extensive discussion with the
parties, the government, and the opposition with regards to how to move forward
on the remaining agenda items.”
By Thursday, the mediator stated that negotiators are
expected to finalize discussions on the root causes of the South Sudan
conflict, which began on Monday and move to the next items on the program.
“We envisage concluding the process in about one week or so.
First, by concluding tomorrow on the root causes of the conflict in South
Sudan, then proceed immediately with the establishment of a joint committee of
the parties and the stakeholders to finalize the root causes and report to the
mediation,” Guyo told the press.
He stated that after concluding discussions on the root
causes, they will proceed to agenda item three, which focuses on the
relationship between the Tumaini Initiative and the R-ARCSS.
“The parties will negotiate extensively on all outstanding
issues with regards to R-ARCSS and Tumaini and particularly establish the
relationship between the two agreements,” he explained.
Before the weekend, the parties are expected to have discussed
power sharing.
He continued, “Then from there, and of course the mechanism
as well, from there then we have an important item that we packed last week,
and that is on the negotiating parties, the names of the negotiating parties.”
According to the program agenda, the talks are scheduled to conclude by February 10, 2025, with the signing of an agreement between the government and the opposition, if the discussions proceed as planned.
"We need to finalize the agreement and
then discuss and agree on implementation metrics,” said Guyo.
The ongoing peace talks under the Tumaini Initiative are a
Kenyan government effort to achieve lasting peace in South Sudan by involving
opposition parties that did not sign the 2018 peace agreement in the peace
process in the country.
