On 19 June, 2024, first Vice President Dr Riek 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.

The 19th June 2024 letter is addressed to Lazarus Sumbeiyo and copied to President Salva Kiir, IGAD heads of state, UN and African Union.

The SPLM-IO leader said he observed the draft document with serious concerns after a thorough study.

According to Dr. Machar, the document didn’t recognize the revitalized agreement and the resolution of conflict in the Republic of South Sudan.

He said the draft document is designed to replace the 2018 peace deal, underlining 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 (hope) Initiative, which started on May 9th, 2024, in Nairobi, is a South Sudan peace talks between the government and the opposition parties who did not sign the 2018 peace deal facilitated by the Kenyan government on the request of President Salva Kiir.

According to Dr Machar, the Tumaini initiatives were expected to be an annex to the R-ARCSS and not a stand-alone agreement.

He concluded that the Nairobi peace talks abrogate the R-ARCSS and deviate from its intent to complement the peace deal by ensuring the inclusion of the non-signatories in the implementation process.

 IGAD response

IGAD’s legal experts on Tuesday stressed that the Tumaini talks are not intended to reset the peace process, but rather complement it for an inclusive and sustainable peace.

Samuel Tilahun, a senior legal advisor with the regional body, IGAD made the remarks on 25th June 2024 during a workshop in Juba.

The workshop was organized by the National Constitution Review Committee and aimed at enlightening its members and stakeholders on plans to launch a nationwide civic education and public consultation on the constitution-making process.

Tilahun said this was to ensure the ongoing peace process is as inclusive as possible and to find lasting solutions to recurring challenges related to implementation.

Tilhun added that the document Dr Machar alluded to discusses the expectations for the Tumaini initiative in the context of the constitution-making process.

This was to promote principles such as inclusive, transparency, and national ownership as anchored on chapter six of the 2018 agreement.

So far, There hasn’t been any outcome of the inter-party dialogue which started in April nor the Tumaini initiative.