Written By Lisa Murimi
South Sudan’s main armed opposition, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) led by Riek Machar, announced on Tuesday its withdrawal from the Tumaini Peace Initiative in Kenya.
Machar argued that the talks were overstepping their mandate and undermining South Sudan’s existing revitalized peace agreement and sovereignty.
“In light of the mentioned development, the SPLM/SPLA (IO) rejects the initiative and declares its withdrawal from the Tumaini Initiative as it has deviated from the intended purpose of being an Annex to R-ARCSS and not a stand-alone agreement,” Machar stated.
According to the SPLM-IO, the talks mediated by President William Ruto introduced protocols that duplicated the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) provisions and encroached on South Sudan’s national laws.
The protocols in question addressed security, ceasefire instruments, humanitarian access, trust building, land disputes, communal violence, arms proliferation, and the role of guarantors.
Machar, who served as the First Vice President of South Sudan, argued that these protocols established institutions that already exist under the 2018 peace agreement.
“The protocols clearly breach the R-ARCSS and undermine the ongoing peace implementation processes,” he added.
Additionally, the SPLM-IO criticized the Tumaini Initiative for assuming roles that should be managed by the South Sudanese government, such as funding, coordinating, supervising, and monitoring peace implementation.
The party also expressed concerns about proposed institutions like the Security Sector Reforms and Oversight Commission and the National Leadership Council, which they argued would undermine similar mechanisms established by the 2018 agreement and have excessive powers over South Sudan’s government bodies.
“The initiative has arrogated to itself many roles, including being a funder, a supervisor, a coordinator, a convener of a donor conference, a fund manager, a monitor of implementation, a guarantor, and a governing authority. Therefore, the Tumaini Initiative undermines the sovereignty of the Republic of South Sudan,” Machar concluded.
