Dau stated that they are yet to receive word from the mediation team and that the only way forward for the people of South Sudan is to figure out a way to reconcile as a people.

By James Chatim

Secretary General of the United People’s Alliance (UPA), Lual Dau, says the delay in resumption of the Nairobi-led peace talks, the Tumaini Initiative, has been delayed by the recent tensions in the country. Dau said the talks were to resume in March.

He stated that they are yet to receive word from the mediation team.

Speaking to The City Review on phone, Dau emphasized that UPA believes that the only way forward for the people of South Sudan is to figure out a way to reconcile as a people.

“Well! Last time we were informed by the Kenyan mediation that Tumaini will resume sometime in March 2025. Up to now, we have not heard from them. Also, as you are aware, the situation in our country has developed into another level of crisis. As we speak, we have parties that are asking to make an agreement on a serious crisis,” Dau stated during the interview.

“The situation that our country is going through is unsettled. And really, we are in a situation where the economy is doing well. The United People’s Alliance, UPA, believes that the only way forward for the people of South Sudan is to figure out a way to reconcile as people. Honestly speaking, there is no one political party or political group that can rescue this country,” he said.

Dau underscored that the only way to rescue South Sudan is to take mutual roles and come together as brothers and sisters.

“(Let’s) Acknowledge the fact that our country is facing deep-rooted challenges so that we sit and prevent that. By making sure all of us, accept South Sudan as the first and all our political interests and political groups are second to our country,” he said.

“From that principle and from that agreement, we can charter a way forward where we go back to the (drawing board) and develop as a country, agree to develop a permanent constitution and prepare the country for election so that we give the power back to our people. And the election takes place and whoever comes out as the winner will usher our country and move our country forward,” he added.

Tumaini Peace Initiative, which was launched on May 9, 2024, in the Kenyan Capital Nairobi, is a high-level mediation for the conflict in South Sudan that incorporates all the holdout groups that have not signed the 2018 Revitalised Agreement on Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS), commissioned by President Salva Kiir and his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto, while mediated by retired army General Lazarus Sumbeiywo as team leader.

Tumaini, Swahili word for ‘hope’, was launched by six heads of State and high-ranking diplomats and officials from different countries, with the expectation that it be the final attempt to end the decade-long South Sudan armed conflict.

On May 16, 2024, after days of formal discussion on conflict resolution, all the parties that participated in the initiative signed a “Declaration of Commitment”, pledging their willingness to renounce any sort of violence. Some of the optimists in the initiative described it as a “renewed hope.”

While the talks were renewed with much optimism early this year, they were later postponed after the parties broke for Christmas and the government delegation requested to consult on some key areas in the protocols.

“(Let’s) Acknowledge the fact that our country is facing deep-rooted challenges so that we sit and prevent that,” Secretary General of the United People’s Alliance (UPA), Lual Dau.