South Sudan's Presidential Advisor, Dr. Barnaba Marial Benjamin [Left] shakes hand with SSOMA's Pagan Amum as Paolo Impagliazzo, Sant’Egidio secretary-general looks on in December 2020. Courtesy

A meeting between the government and holdout groups led by Pagan Amum and Paul Molang has been postponed.

According to the spokesperson of the government’s negotiation team, this came after the Kenyan government failed to send formal approval to host the peace talks in Nairobi.

Dr. Barnaba Marial Benjamin said the government and the group were set to hold talks from the 18^th to the 23^rd of January.

“What has happened is that the formal approval for Kenya to host the talks did not reach Saint-’Egidio -although they agreed the talks will take place,” Dr. Marial disclosed.

This comes following a division among the South Sudan Opposition Alliance leaders in Rome Peace last year.

One SSOMA group broke away after an allegation of undisclosed talks between the government in Juba and the group led by Paul Malong.

This made Pagan Amum, Paul Malong among others walkout from Rome talks.

However, Dr. Marial said following the division, the Saint-Egidio team agreed with the Kenya government to have separate talks with splinter groups in Nairobi.

Dr Marial told Eye Radio, Wednesday, that the Nairobi meeting was aimed at reaching an understanding between the two parties…

“So the date will be changed, that is why we didn’t proceed to Nairobi… a new date has not been set.”

In November 2020, the parties made significant progress as they agreed to negotiate on the federal nature of the government, the issue of powers, the national identity particularly the respect for cultural and ethnic differences, a mechanism for the economy, the reform of the civil sector, and the rights of indigenous communities including the land ownership.

“But there are some outstanding points such as the nature of the conflict, the referendum to endorse the permanent constitution and the boundaries of the state,” Paolo Impagliazzo, Secretary-General of the Community of Sant’Egidio told the Sudan Tribune.

In January 2020, the parties signed a declaration in Rome to observe the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement and further negotiations on root causes of political violence in South Sudan.

The Sant’Egidio community has maintained that their mediation effort is complimentary of the efforts of the IGAD to achieve peace in South Sudan.

It is aimed at supporting an inclusive peace agreement in South Sudan by persuading the hold-out groups to join the revitalized peace deal signed in September 2018.