Government needs to offer olive branch to NAS

The National Salvation Front (NAS) under Gen. Thomas Cirilo Swaka, the former deputy chief of logistics in the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) is not taking part in the ongoing Nairobi peac e process.

Most of the opposition groups taking part have never shot any bullet, but NAS has over the years claimed several deadly attacks along highways and different regions of Central Equatoria State.

The surprise is that NAS has been lkeft out of the ongoing talks being mediated by Kenyan President William Ruto. During the opening of the peace talks on May 3^rd, Ruto claimed that President Kiir reached out to him to mediate the talks that were previously handled by the Catholic community of Saint Egidio in Rome, Italy.

NAS was part of the peace process in Rome that began in late 2019, but they have been left out of ongoing round of peace talks in Nairobi.

The government needs to send olive branch to NAS, inviting them to be part of the peace process due to the fact that Cirilo was quoted in Radio Tamazuj, saying that his group was never invited.

 In addition, he cited security fears stemming from the abduction of opposition figures in Nairobi over the past years.

 Opposition figures were allegedly abducted at the hands of the Kenyan security in collaboration with their South Sudan counterparts. Those that were caught up were later  covertly deported to Juba