Dr Barnaba Marial minutes a meeting at J1 in June 2021 | Credit | Presidential press unit

The government has requested mediators to reschedule the peace talks with holdout groups until after the Independence Day celebrations.

According to the minister of Presidential Affairs, President Salva Kiir has asked Saint’Egidio to allow the parties to first mark the 10th independence anniversary.

Dr. Barnaba Marial, who often heads the government delegation, has been assigned to organize the 9 July festivities.

In a letter to the Sant’Egidio Catholic community in Italy, Dr. Marial assured the mediators of the government’s commitment to the talks but called for rescheduling.

It is not clear when the talks were to resume.

The Sant’Egidio Catholic community-based in Rome, Italy started the mediation between the government and the South Sudan Opposition Alliance or SSOMA in November 2019.

The coalition is led by Thomas Cirilo, Paul Malong, Pagan Amum, among others.

“I would like to assure you that we are committed to the Rome peace talks under auspices of Sant’Egidio and that we will be able to attend immediately when these events are over,” writes Dr Marial.

The Sant’Egidio Catholic community-based in Rome, Italy started the mediation between the government and the South Sudan Opposition Alliance or SSOMA in November 2019.

The coalition is led by Thomas Cirilo, Paul Malong, Pagan Amum, among others.

The Sant’Egidio-led mediation is aimed at supporting an inclusive peace agreement in South Sudan by persuading the holdout group to join the revitalized peace deal signed in September 2018.

In January this year, a meeting between the government and holdout groups led by Pagan Amum and Paul Molang was postponed.

This came following a division among the South Sudan Opposition Alliance leaders in Rome Peace last year.

One SSOMA group broke away after an allegation of undisclosed talks between the government in Juba and the group led by Paul Malong.

This made Pagan Amum, Paul Malong among others walkout from Rome talks.

However, the Saint-Egidio team agreed with the Kenya government to have separate talks with splinter groups in Nairobi.

In November 2020, the parties made significant progress as they agreed to negotiate on the federal nature of the government, the issue of powers, the national identity particularly the respect for cultural and ethnic differences, a mechanism for the economy, the reform of the civil sector, and the rights of indigenous communities including the land ownership.

In January 2020, the parties signed a declaration in Rome to observe the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement and further negotiations on root causes of political violence in South Sudan.

The Sant’Egidio community has maintained that their mediation effort is complimentary of the efforts of the IGAD to achieve peace in South Sudan.

Both the mediation team and SSOMA are yet to comment of the statement.