The stalled South Sudan peace talks resume

By Deng Machol, JUBA South Sudan

After four months and the sacking of a government delegation, the stalled South Sudan peace talks resumed Wednesday in Kenya, the latest effort to end the conflict that has long crippled the African country’s economy.

The talks are taking place between South Sudan’s government and opposition groups that were not part of the 2018 agreement that ended a five-year civil war in which more than 400,000 people died. Dubbed Tumaini, which is Swahili for hope, the talks began in May and the sides signed a “commitment declaration” for peace.

They subsequently stalled, after South Sudanese President Salva Kiir sacked the previous government delegation to the talks. A new team was then appointed to represent the government side but it was unable to travel to Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, on two subsequent occasions.

No reasons were given for the sackings and travel delays. Last month, Kiir said the talks in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, were not meant to replace the 2018 peace deal but to address and integrate the concerns of holdout groups.

While the 2018 peace agreement is yet to be fully implemented, South Sudan has postponed elections, scheduled for December 2024 to 2026. The elections are to be the first in South Sudan since its independence in 2011.

The postponement was over pending registration of voters, a process that faced financial shortages amid an economic crisis that has seen civil servants go for more than a year without salaries.

Oil export constitute the main source of revenue and a damaged pipeline in neighboring Sudan, where a civil war is underway, has tampered with oil exports from South Sudan.

In the talks so far, the two sides have also protested against a new law that allow for detentions without arrest warrants, saying they went against human rights.

On Wednesday, chief mediator Lazarus Sumbeiyo urged all parties to conclude work on outstanding issues.

The head of the South Sudan Opposition Movement Alliance, Pagan Amum, asked the new government delegation to commit to what has already been agreed on.

“This is not a time to renegotiate what we have already agreed upon — it is important to remember that this is probably the last chance to rescue our country from the total disintegration and collapse into chaos and disorder as the fate of South Sudan now is in our hands,” Pagan said.

Kuol Manyang Juuk, from the government side, urged the parties to set aside their differences. “We are not here to start the talks from scratch; we are here to build on what has been accomplished,” Kuol said.