President William Ruto on Thursday, February 20 held a meeting with South Sudan opposition holdouts group at Statehouse, Nairobi.
Ruto said he held the meeting at the request of the South Sudan Government delegation to facilitate consultations aimed at achieving lasting peace and stability in the world’s youngest nation.
“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,” read the statement in part.
“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.”
Ruto Holds Talks with South Sudan Holdouts Group
The Opposition Hold-Out Group delegation was led by General Pagan Amum. Others were Gen Paul Malong, Gen Stephen Buoy, Gen Mario Lada, Lual Dau and Dr Cirinho Hiteng.
Dubbed Tumaini, meaning hope in Swahili, the peace talks between South Sudan’s transitional government and holdout opposition groups have been ongoing in Nairobi since last year but were postponed allowing for further consultations among the parties involved.
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The Kenya-led Tumaini Initiative peace talks, which began on May 9, 2024, faced a setback in July when some parties raised concerns about specific mechanisms proposed in the negotiations.
It seeks to address South Sudan’s ongoing conflict by engaging holdout groups that did not sign the 2018 peace agreement.
The decision to resume the talks followed a meeting on Nov. 6, 2024, between Kenyan President William Ruto and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir in Juba.
About Tumaini Initiative
During the meeting, the leaders directed the mediation team to reconvene and resolve any outstanding issues within two weeks before signing the final agreement.
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The opposition groups stressed the importance expressed their commitment to building lasting peace to enable South Sudan to move out of its transitional period and into its first democratic elections as a sovereign state, enabling people to exercise their right to elect their leaders.
“I would like to appeal to all delegates to recommit ourselves to a genuine search for peace and approach this resumption with an open heart and sincerity,” said Pagan Amum, the Chairperson of the Real-Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.
“This resumption is to finalize and conclude the Tumaini consensus. This is not a time to reopen or renegotiate what has already been agreed upon. This is probably the last chance to rescue our country from total disintegration and collapse into chaos and disorder.”
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