President Salva Kiir, left, shakes hands with Pagan Amum, leader of the Real-SPLM group, during the launch of high-level peace talks for South Sudan at State House in Nairobi, Kenya, on Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)ASSOCIATED PRESS

The national unity government has declined the opposition’s proposal to reopen the 2018 peace agreement during the Nairobi Peace Talks, as reported by an observer

Edmond Yakani, one of the activists monitoring the Nairobi peace says the government opposes renegotiating the peace agreement, while the holdout groups insist on reopening discussions.

On Thursday, May 16, 2024, the parties endorsed the Tumaini (Hope) initiative for the South Sudan peace process, indicating a step towards reconciliation.

The High-Level Mediation for South Sudan in Nairobi aims to resolve the ongoing crisis in the country.

Yakani says that although progress has been made, there are still areas of contention between the government and the opposition regarding the purpose of the Nairobi peace talks.

He says, that while the government asserts that the talks are not meant for renegotiating the Revitalized Agreement, the opposition insists on revisiting certain aspects or using it as a reference point, leading to misunderstandings between the two sides.

Edmond Yakani, Executive Director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization, provided insights into the talks via WhatsApp to Eye Radio.

“As of today the talks have reached a reasonable level of understanding, but still between the opposition and the government, there are areas of misunderstanding or areas are require further understanding around the purpose of Nairobi peace talks,” Yakani remarked.

He continued, “The government position is that the Nairobi peace talks are a process that is initiated not for renegotiation of the R-ARCSS and not open for renegotiation.”

Yakani emphasized, “The opposition is standing at the point that R-ARCSS needs to be renegotiated in some of the areas or R-ARCSS should be used as a reference point, this has created a bit of misunderstanding between the government and the opposition.”