South Sudan government delegation arrives in Nairobi for Tumaini talks resumption

JUBA – A South Sudan government delegation, led by senior presidential advisor Kuol Manyang Juk, has arrived in Nairobi, Kenya, ahead of the resumption of the Tumaini (“Hope”) Peace Initiative the parties involved have confirmed.

The talks, mediated by Kenyan President William Ruto at the request of President Salva Kiir Mayardit, aim to bring opposition groups that have not signed the revitalized peace agreement into the process.

The delegation’s arrival follows a meeting with South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit at the state house in Juba, where Kiir reportedly urged the team to “seek a potential breakthrough” in the talks aimed at including nonsignatory opposition groups in the peace process.

Speaking to Sudans Post upon arrival in Nairobi, head of the government delegation Kuol Manyang Juk confirmed that they arrived this evening and are expected to meet with the mediation team in the early hours of tomorrow before engaging with opposition groups to set the agenda.

“We have arrived, and we will be preparing for the talks tomorrow morning by meeting the mediation and then meeting with the opposition representatives. Those meetings will only be for setting the agenda and the real talks will commence on Monday,” he said.

Separately, Dak Buoth Riek, head of the National Committee for Legal Affairs of the South Sudan People’s Movement (SSPM), confirmed to Sudans Post the arrival of the government delegation, suggesting that preparatory talks will be held tomorrow, Friday.

Riek said that talks aimed at addressing differences between the government and the holdout opposition groups are expected to officially begin on Monday next week.

“The government delegation has arrived, and this is of course good news. The negotiations are likely going to commence as early as tomorrow and it will probably commence with pre-mediation conferences that involve, you know, introductions and so on and so forth considering that government delegations comprise of members that are new so there will be those kind of activities before the full conversation begins,” he said.

“We expect full mediation and talks to begin next week. Remember the two-week timeline that was agreed by President Salva Kiir [and] President Ruto are almost elapsing and South Sudanese are waiting with a bated breath to have this process begin and conclude as early as possible,” he added.

The Nairobi talks, launched at the request of President Salva Kiir by Kenyan President William Ruto in May this year, are meant to bring nonsignatory opposition groups into the revitalized peace agreement signed in September 2018.

The talks involve four opposition groups: the South Sudan People’s Movement (SSPM), led by General Stephen Buay Rolnyang; the South Sudan United Front (SSUF), led by General Paul Malong; Real-SPLM, led by Pagan Amum; and the National Salvation Front Revolutionary Command Council (NAS-RCC) led by Gen. Mario Laku Thomas Jada.

Other factions that initially participated in the start sessions, such as the United Democratic Revolutionary Movement (UDRM), Upper Nile Liberation Front (ULF), and Patriots’ Resistance Movement (PRM), were later expelled after disagreements over defections between participating parties.