By Bosco Bush
Kenyan President, William Samoei Ruto expressed optimism about the progress of the Tumaini Initiative for peace in South Sudan.
Amidst speculations of impediments to the process, the Kenyan President who doubles as the guarantor for the Tumaini peace initiative noted that the initiative has achieved “immense progress.”
According to a statement obtained, members of the high-level mediation team led by the chief mediator, Lt. Gen. (Rtd) Lazarus Sumbeiywo on Tuesday briefed President Ruto about the progress.
“Tumaini Initiative has achieved immense progress guided by the leadership and patriotism of all parties involved. We commend them for having made difficult decisions for the betterment of the country.” Ruto said in the statement.
“Kenya looks forward to the people of South Sudan living in a peaceful, secure, and thriving society,” the statement continued.
In mid-July, the parties to the Tumaini Initiative for Peace in South Sudan struck a preliminary breakthrough and inked some 8 Protocols that include guiding principles; humanitarian access and support; trust and confidence-building measures; a permanent ceasefire; security arrangements; and reforms.
However, a few days later the SPLM-IO, one of the stakeholders of the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) withdrew its participation from the initiative citing controversies of the peace initiative with the R-ARCISS.
Since then, the parties seem to have stuck as no progress has been witnessed in the last month.
Tumaini Peace Initiative, which was launched on May 9, 2024, in the Kenyan Capital Nairobi, is a high-level mediation seeking everlasting tranquility for the conflict in South Sudan by incorporating all the holdout groups that have not signed the Revitalized Agreement on Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan.
Kenyan President William Ruto, South Sudan President Salva Kiir, and former Kenyan Army Commander and Chief Mediator Major-Gen Lazarus Sumbeiywo are the lead initiative mediators.