By William Madouk
President Salva Kiir has clarified that the Tumaini Initiative is not intended to replace the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (ARCSS).
This comes after discussions surrounding the initiative continue to unfold, with various political elites expressing concern that the initiative would have implications for the existing peace agreement.
Addressing the opening of the 8th governor’s forum on Tuesday, Kiir stated that the Tumaini initiative was not intended to negotiate a new parallel peace agreement aimed to replace or dismantle the existing peace agreement signed in 2018.
“Our collective vision with the signatories to the 2018 peace agreement is to bridge the gap, to understand reservations of the holdout groups, and accommodate these reservations within the existing agreement so that the Tumaini initiative becomes part of the existing agreement,” Kiir clarified.
He underscored that it makes sense to say any agreement to replace the existing one will defeat the principle of inclusivity and will certainly lead to a cycle of conflict.
He underscored that his recent decision to restructure the government delegation to the Tumaini Initiative, the peace process taking place in Nairobi, Kenya, is informed by the need to speed up and conclude the negotiation process.
The Tumaini peace initiative, led by Kenyan President William Ruto, was launched in May 2024 as a renewed effort to facilitate dialogue and reconciliation with holdout opposition groups following the stagnation of previous Rome talks led by the Community of Saint Egidio.
After it stalled in July, a new government delegation is scheduled to travel to Nairobi on November 27th to engage in talks with the South Sudan Opposition Movement Alliance (SSOMA).