South Sudan parties set to resume peace talks in Kenya

People displaced by conflict in Sudan are seen at the reception center in Renk County, Upper Nile State, South Sudan. [Xinhua]

South Sudan's Transitional Government of National Unity and holdout opposition groups will resume peace talks in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, on Monday, a chief mediator announced on Friday.

Lazaro Sumbeiywo, chief mediator for the high-level mediation process for South Sudan, said the Nairobi peace talks, dubbed "Tumaini" meaning hope in Swahili, will iron out the outstanding issues within the two weeks’ time frame set by presidents from Kenya and South Sudan Wednesday.

“Following the resolution on the way forward for the Tumaini Peace Initiative, the high-level mediation for South Sudan would like to inform the stakeholders that the talks will resume on Nov 11, to conclude within the proposed time frame of two weeks," Sumbeiywo said in an invitation to the parties issued in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

The decision to resume the talks follows a meeting between Kenyan President William Ruto and his South Sudan counterpart Salva Kiir in Juba Wednesday when they directed the mediation team to reconvene and resolve any outstanding issues within two weeks before the final signature.

During the talks, the two leaders agreed to secure regional endorsement for the Tumaini Initiative and urged the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an East African bloc, to mobilize enough resources and garner international support to ensure full implementation of the initiative.

The two leaders also acknowledged the successful signing of nine protocols, which have now been signed, marking a significant step forward in their partnership.

The Kenya-led peace talks, Tumaini Initiative, which began on May 9, however, suffered a setback in July when some parties raised concerns over specific mechanisms proposed in the negotiations.

The resumption of the talks in Nairobi has been welcomed by South Sudanese civil society which called on the parties to seize the opportunity to reach a deal.

Edmund Yakani, executive director for the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization, said that the resumption of the talks is a strategic political process to gain stability in the country by including the holdout groups.

In December 2023, South Sudan President Kiir reportedly asked his Kenyan counterpart President William Ruto to assume the lead in mediating peace talks, taking over from the Community of Sant'Egidio in Rome, Italy.

Kiir expressed concerns that the talks had lingered without resolution under Sant'Egidio's mediation.

The Rome-based community adjourned the peace talks in March 2023 due to disagreements between the parties regarding the agenda.