Tumaini peace process shrouded in uncertainty as government walks out

By Simon Deng & News Agencies

The future of the Tumaini peace process remains uncertain following the recent walk out by the government delegation from the Kenyan mediated talks.

The government rapporteur, Martin Elia Lomuro, said his team requested the mediation team to adjourn the talks to allow them to return to Juba, and prepare for the start of the two-year transitional period which is supposed to pave way for general elections in December 2026.

Lual Dau, the Secretary General and spokesperson of the United People’s Alliance (UPA)- a loose coalition of all opposition groups attending the Nairobi talks, said on Sunday that the action of the government delegation demonstrates it’s lack of political will to reach peace agreement with the opposition.

“The leadership of the United People’s Alliance, would like to inform our supporters, citizens, regional and international community that unfortunately, the government of South Sudan has decided to walk out once again from the Tumaini Initiative,” said Dau.

“The government delegation’s negative, obstructive and anti-Tumaini behavior reflects that achieving peace is not their priority, it also demonstrate their aloofness to the suffering of our people and their inability to comprehend what is needed in order to rescue the country from imminent collapse  and total disintegration,” he added.

The Kenya-led talks, aimed at forging sustainable peace in South Sudan, which began on May 9, 2024 is seen as a critical step toward resolving the country’s long-winding political and security crises.

The newly formed United People’s Alliance is led by Pagan Amum Okiech, with his two deputies, Gen. Paul Malong Awan and Gen. Mario Laku, and Lual Dau as their Secretary General.

Talks between South Sudan’s Transitional Government of National Unity and holdout opposition groups adjourned Saturday in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, after making some progress that could usher in a new dispensation in the country, Chief Mediator Lazarus Sumbeiywo has said.

The adjournment of the talks came at a time when South Sudan is confronting significant challenges, including 9 million people requiring humanitarian aid, 7.5 million experiencing food insecurity and an influx of over 1 million returnees and refugees fleeing violence in neighbouring Sudan.

There are three priority areas of critical importance necessary to ending the perpetual transition in South Sudan, Sumbeiywo said.

The unification of forces and security sector reforms, the permanent constitution-making process, and the holding of free, fair, credible and transparent elections are the three key points that could help end conflict in the country, he said.

“Given the acute human insecurity and humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, the mediation believes that actions must be taken for there to be effective mechanisms of implementation,” Sumbeiywo said in a communique issued in Nairobi.

Dubbed Tumaini, meaning hope in Swahili, the peace talks between South Sudan’s transitional government and opposition groups have been ongoing in Nairobi since last year but have sometimes been postponed to allow for further consultations among the parties involved.

During the latest round of talks, Sumbeiywo said, the root causes of the conflict were extensively deliberated through a joint technical committee.

The committee summarized the root causes as political, governance and leadership crises; power struggle; structural and institutional weaknesses; and economic crisis and resource mismanagement, he said. Other root causes include insecurity and militarization of society; lack of social cohesion and historical factors; and external and geopolitical influences.