South Sudan VP Machar concerned Tumaini Peace Process may replace 2018 deal

South Sudanese First Vice President Riek Machar has expressed concerns over a draft document he believes is designed to replace the 2018 peace deal that ended a five-year civil war, which killed about 400,000 people.

VP Machar raised his grievances in a letter he addressed to Lt. General (Rtd) Lazarus Sumbeiywo, Chief Mediator of High-Level Mediation for South Sudan in Kenya. 

Machar and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir were on opposing sides during the war, and the former was appointed vice president following the 2018 peace agreement.

According to Eye Radio in South Sudan, the letter dated June 19, 2024, was also copied to President Salva Kiir, IGAD heads of state, the UN, and the African Union.

"I am writing to your Excellencies to express my concerns on the mediation draft document titled 'Tumaini Consensus and Implementation Framework for a Permanent Constitutional and Sustainable Peace for South Sudan,'" Machar stated in his letter.

Presidents William Ruto (Kenya) Lazarus Chakwera (Malawi), Hakainde Hichilema (Zambia), Faustin-Archange Touadéra (Central African Republic), Emmerson Mnangagwa (Zimbabwe), Salva Kiir (South Sudan), Somalia Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre and the AUC Chairperson Moussa Faki witness the launch of the South Sudan Mediation Process chaired by Lazarus Sumbeiywo at State House, Nairobi, on Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Photo: PCS)

The VP, leader of the SPLM-IO, said he reviewed the draft document with serious concerns and noted that it does not recognise the revitalised agreement and the resolution of conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS). 

He further argued that the draft aims to replace the 2018 peace deal, pointing out that some sections propose alternative institutions that would replace or run parallel to those the 2018 agreement established. 

The Tumaini Initiative, according to Machar, lacks the authority to amend the R-ARCSS, a power held only by the parties signatory to the 2018 accord. 

He noted that the Tumaini Initiative is meant to be one of the institutions within the framework of the 2018 agreement, not a separate mediation forum. In other words, the Tumaini initiatives are meant to be an annexe to the R-ARCSS, not a standalone agreement. 

"The First Vice President, based on his capacity as one of the principals of the revitalised peace agreement, has sent this letter," confirmed Puok Both Baluang, acting spokesperson in Machar's office, in an interview with Eye Radio on Thursday.

"The concern raised was that the document does not recognise the revitalised peace agreement and was designed to replace it. It also established alternative institutions that would replace or run parallel to those in the revitalised peace agreement," Puok Both Baluang added. 

The Tumaini (Hope) Initiative, which began on May 9, 2024, in Nairobi, is a series of South Sudan peace talks between the government and opposition parties that did not sign the 2018 peace deal. 

These talks are facilitated by the Kenyan government at the request of President Salva Kiir.

Machar concluded that the Nairobi peace talks deviate from the intent of the R-ARCSS by creating a separate framework rather than complementing the existing peace deal and ensuring the inclusion of non-signatories in its implementation process.

Opposition leader Riek Machar and President Salva Kiir shake hands in Juba on October 31, 2023. (Photo: UN)