South Sudan holdout groups welcome Kenya mediation role, says Pagan Amum

NAIROBI – South Sudan opposition leader Pagan Amum confirmed that holdout opposition groups have accepted Kenya’s role in mediating with the Juba government but warned it might be the last chance to prevent disaster in the young nation.

Last year, President Salva Kiir, through the Minister of Presidential Affairs Bangasi Joseph Bakasoro, requested his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto to mediate between the government and the non-signatories to the 2018 peace accord.

Talks mediated by the Rome-based Sant’Egidio Community were adjourned in March last year after the South Sudan government and the Non-Signatories South Sudanese Opposition Group (NSSSOG) disagreed on the agenda of the talks.

Speaking to Sudans Post in an interview on Saturday, Amum acknowledged receiving communication from Ruto and that consultations are ongoing with mediators.

“Yes, we have received communication from President William Ruto, and we are currently consulting with the government of Kenya and Sant’Egidio Community,” he explained.

Amum, who leads the Real SPLM party, criticized President Salva Kiir’s government for failing to meet prerequisites for the upcoming general elections. The opposition leader warned of a potential conflict arising from unlawful polls.

He said he is optimistic Kenya will learn from past failures and push for genuine implementation of the peace agreement to pave the way for peace and stability.

“We hope that Kenya as a new mediator will draw lessons from the experiences of other mediators who tried to bring peace to South Sudan. We hope Kenya will interrogate the causes why all mediators have failed to achieve peace in South Sudan, or rather why the agreements are not implemented by the parties to agreement, why the mediators and grantors of agreements have failed to meaningfully intervene so that these agreements could have led to peace and stability or to deliver some peace dividend in terms of development and prosperity,” Amum said.

“The Kenyan initiative is probably the last opportunity for President Kiir and all South Sudanese stakeholders to rescue the country before it is late,” he added.

Amum accused President Kiir’s government of dishonouring the agreement they signed and failure to deliver on their commitments to the South Sudanese.

“President Kiir and the clique around him have obstructed the implementation of R-ARCSS, as we predicted in 2018 that they will not implement it,” he said.

The Real SPLM party leader said the opposition were not to blame for the delays in the country’s election, rather President Kiir and those around him.

According to the opposition leader, the roadmap signed by South Sudan’s warring parties was expected to expedite the implementation of the peace deal, particularly fulfilment of the prerequisites for elections at the end of 2024.

“As we expected the SPLM-IG has gone about implementing their plan not to deliver on the requirements for holding free and fair elections,” he remarked.

Amum specifically cited delays in the permanent constitution-making process.

“While it was agreed that these elections shall only be organized in accordance with the provisions of the permanent constitution” (R-ARCSS art. 1.20. 4), secondly the National Elections Commission (NEC) was supposed to have been reconstituted as an independent body in May 2020 it is now reconstituted in December 2023 after more than three years’ delay,” he observed.

The opposition leader warned of likely conflict if elections are mismanaged.

“Our first genuine elections will be organized in accordance with the permanent constitution, after South Sudanese have reconciled themselves and have healed their self-inflicted wounds,” he stressed, adding “Anything before these processes would be nothing but attempts to steal legitimacy”.

He advocated for an inclusive round table conference to build national consensus on a way out of the present national crisis and predicament.

He further disclosed that all the opposition parties and the National Consensus Forum (NCF) have welcomed Kenya’s mediation role and would be engaging in pre-mediation consultations.