President Kiir chats with opposition leaders Pagan Amum and Paul Malong in Nairobi. (-)

Civil society activist Edmund Yakani maintained that the Nairobi peace talks will not undermine the 2018 peace agreement despite a concern that the Kenya-led process is deviating from its mandate.

On Wednesday, First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar wrote to Chief Mediator General Lazarus Sumeiyo – stating that he was concerned about a draft constitutional document he believes is designed to replace the 2018 peace deal.

According to Dr. Machar, some sections of the document proposed alternative institutions replacing or running in parallel with those in the principal peace accord.

He also stated that the process dubbed Tumaini Initiative has no power to amend the R-ARCSS, which he said, is the only agreement that has empowered the talks to be one of the institutions rather than being a mediation forum.

But Yakani, the head of Community Empowerment and Progress Organization (CEPO) disagreed with the concerns and insists that the Nairobi peace engagement with opposition groups will not replace the peace deal.

The civil society delegate to the negotiations said the process only seeks alternatives to speed up the shaky implementation of the revitalized agreement.

In a press statement, Yakani claimed that the concerns are wrongly timed and display doubts on the process that is close to bearing fruits.

“We have seen some political leaders are already making some statements that constitute building a spirit of doubt on the Nairobi Peace Process,” he stated in an audio statement extended to Eye Radio.

“There is nothing that it undermines the spirit of R-ARCSS or tries to replace the R-ARCSS because the methodology of Nairobi peace process is that we look together with the principle of declaration signed with the government in Rome four years ago.”

“As member of the civil society delegates, I would like to communicate to the citizens that we are almost toward the finishing line to reach a political consensus between the government and opposition that are non-signatories to the R-ARCSS.”

“The process is all focusing at reaching a political framework that is implementable in a genuine and timely manner with full political commitment where political will is not questionable.”

Following the SPLM-IO leader’s letter, a civil society activist said the concerns were genuine and called on the chief mediator reconsider his observations.

Debak Mabior Arok, the Acting Chairperson for South Sudan Civil Society Alliance says, observed that the Tumaini Initiative has excluded other stakeholders and is not inclusive as it was intended.

Dabek agreed with Dr. Machar’s view that the Tumaini Initiative should not be a stand-alone agreement, but rather complement the revitalized peace agreement

He also said the Nairobi peace process should recognize the progress made in the implementation of the 2018 peace agreement since its signing.