August 7, 2024 NAIROBI — The Tumaini Initiative talks for South Sudan in Nairobi are not “dead,” Information Minister Michael Makuei stated on Wednesday, one day after the opposition met with Kenya’s President William Ruto.
“I would like to inform the public that the Tumaini Initiative is ongoing and it is alive. Don’t listen to the rumors that are being spread that Tumaini is dead,” Makuei told state media.
Makuei explained that hiccups are a normal part of any negotiations. “Therefore, we are convinced that we will be in a position to come up with a Tumaini Consensus that will lead to peace and stability in South Sudan.”
Makuei, who serves as the rapporteur for the government delegation at the Nairobi talks, urged the public to remain hopeful.
The mediation, Makuei noted, had enabled media houses to return to the negotiation venue in Nairobi to keep the South Sudanese people informed about the progress.
“I am inviting all media houses capable of sustaining their personnel in Nairobi to come and provide daily coverage of the process so that our people are fully informed on time,” he said.
The peace talks, which began in Nairobi on May 9, were temporarily halted last month after representatives of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO), led by First Vice President Riek Machar, walked out. They argued that the protocols under discussion would undermine the provisions of the 2018 peace deal, officially known as the Revitalized Agreement, signed between President Salva Kiir’s SPLM, SPLM-IO, and other political factions.
The negotiations in Nairobi were intended to engage groups that had initially stayed away from the revitalized peace deal.
Last week, the chief mediator, Gen (rtd) Lazarus Sumbeiywo of Kenya, informed Radio Tamazuj that the mediation was at a very advanced stage after the parties had initialed a number of protocols. According to Gen Sumbeiywo, the mediation briefed the leadership in Juba and was awaiting the return of the government delegation to resume talks.
