South Sudan parties adjourn talks in Kenya

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir, (right), and Vice President Riek Machar, (left), attend a Mass led by Pope Francis at the John Garang Mausoleum in Juba, South Sudan on Feb 5, 2023 (AP)

NAIROBI, Feb 10, (Xinhua): Talks between South Sudan's Transitional Government of National Unity and holdout opposition groups adjourned Saturday in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, after making some progress that could usher in a new dispensation in the country, Chief Mediator Lazarus Sumbeiywo has said. The adjournment of the talks came at a time when South Sudan is confronting significant challenges, including 9 million people requiring humanitarian aid, 7.5 million experiencing food insecurity and an influx of over 1 million returnees and refugees fleeing violence in neighbouring Sudan.

There are three priority areas of critical importance necessary to ending the perpetual transition in South Sudan, Sumbeiywo said. The unification of forces and security sector reforms, the permanent constitution-making process, and the holding of free, fair, credible and transparent elections are the three key points that could help end conflict in the country, he said.

"Given the acute human insecurity and humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, the mediation believes that actions must be taken for there to be effective mechanisms of implementation," Sumbeiywo said in a communique issued in Nairobi. Dubbed Tumaini, meaning hope in Swahili, the peace talks between South Sudan's transitional government and opposition groups have been ongoing in Nairobi since last year but have sometimes been postponed to allow for further consultations among the parties involved.

During the latest round of talks, Sumbeiywo said, the root causes of the conflict were extensively deliberated through a joint technical committee. The committee summarized the root causes as political, governance and leadership crises; power struggle; structural and institutional weaknesses; and economic crisis and resource mismanagement, he said. Other root causes include insecurity and militarization of society; lack of social cohesion and historical factors; and external and geopolitical influences.

Source: https://www.arabtimesonline.com/news/south-sudan-parties-adjourn-talks-in-kenya/