By William Madouk
Minister of Cabinet Affairs and government rapporteur for the Tumaini Initiative, Dr. Martin Elia Lomuro, has dismissed claims linking the suffering of South Sudanese citizens to the slow implementation of the 2018 peace agreement.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, Minister Lomuro asserted that there is no relevance to relate the suffering of the people of South Sudan to the implementation of the agreement.
He described such claims as politically motivated.
“There is no relevance to relate the suffering of the people of South Sudan to the implementation of the agreement. There is no conflict in the Republic of South Sudan. There is no fighting between the major parties,” Lomuro told reporters in Nairobi.
He was responding to a question about the government’s commitment to implementing the 2018 peace agreement to alleviate the suffering of citizens affected by the conflict.
While there are still incidents of communal clashes, cattle raiding, and road ambushes, Dr. Lomuro noted that confrontations with the NAS forces allied to Gen. Thomas Cirilo have significantly decreased.
“So, this political manipulation of the suffering of the people of South Sudan in relation to the R-ARCSS is political,” he noted.
He asserted “we must understand now that if you go to South Sudan today and you look at the market.”
“You look at how many people are now going to agriculture, and you see how many South Sudanese open shops, open small hotels, and you assess their economic viability, you will not repeat that statement,” he said.
He clarified that the assertion of peace remains stalled due to the economic crisis, humanitarian issues, and insecurity, which discredit the superb efforts of the 2018 peace deal.
“The people of South Sudan expect for us to continue to implement the provisions that are outstanding and ongoing in order for us to take the country to an election, and they can now elect their leaders,” Lomuro cited.
“The economic situation of the country is like any country in the world. They have their own economic issues,” he continued.
The 2018 peace deal (R-ARCSS), was finalized in September 2018, and marked an attempt to quell violent conflict in South Sudan, and ushered in a ‘transitional period’ that would lead to elections.
The government is now engaged in Tumaini peace talks with non-signatory to the 2018 peace agreement, aiming to bring them into a comprehensive and lasting peace in South Sudan.
However, negotiations around the Tumaini Initiative entered a critical juncture, with contrasting views emerging between the government and the United People’s Alliance (UPA) over its implementation framework.
The government hinted at incorporating Tumaini into the 2018 Revitalized Agreement but the holdout groups insist that the Tumaini talks must be a stand-alone agreement.