A meeting of government delegation to Kenya-led talks and South Sudan vice presidents in Juba. July 4, 2024. (Photo: Office of the First Vice President/Facebook).

The government delegation to the Nairobi peace talks dubbed as the Tumaini Initiative briefed South Sudan vice presidents in a meeting chaired by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar, who previously raised a concern about the talks.

The meeting was also attended by vice presidents Hussein Abdelbagi Akol, Taban Deng Gai, and Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior.

The delegation of the transitional government led by Presidential Envoy Amb. Albino Mathom Ayuel briefed the senior officials at the government secretariat in Juba on 4th July, a day after briefing President Kiir.

The meetings were reportedly to update the top leadership about the status of the talks and seek direction on ways to address challenges in the negotiation with South Sudan Opposition Movement Alliance (SSOMA) and other stakeholders.

“The briefing highlighted the progress made at the talks and sought guidance from the top leadership on ways to address the challenges hindering efforts to reach an agreement with the holdout groups,” reads a statement from FVP Machar’s office.

It was stated that Amb. Albino Mathom revealed that the talks have made significant progress on the three key protocols that they have been discussing.

After the meeting, the government delegation called for a press conference on Thursday afternoon, before abruptly adjourning it and telling reporters to come the next day.

On 19th June 2024, First Vice President Machar wrote to the Chief Mediator of High-level Mediation for South Sudan in Kenya, expressing concerns over a draft document he believes is designed to replace the 2018 peace deal.

“I am writing to your Excellencies to express my concerns on the mediation draft document titled “Tumaini Consensus and Implementation Framework for a permanent constitutional and sustainable peace for South Sudan,” Machar said partly in his letter.

The SPLM-IO leader said he observed the draft document with serious concerns after a thorough study, and found that it does not recognize the revitalized agreement.

He underlined that some sections of the document propose alternative institutions replacing or running in parallel with those in the 2018 agreement.

He argued that the Tumaini Initiative has no power to amend the R-ARCSS, but the parties signatory to the 2018 accord, which he said is the only agreement that has empowered the Tumaini Initiative to be one of the institutions rather than being a mediation forum.

The Tumaini Initiative, which started in May 2024, is a south Sudanese peace talk between the government and the opposition parties that were not signatories to the 2018 peace agreement.