UPA Spokesperson Lual Dau speaks to Eye Radio's Dawn Show. January 27, 2025. (Photo: Lou Nelson/Eye Radio).
The Secretary General of opposition United People’s Alliance (UPA) is calling for compromise in the Tumaini Initiative after claiming that the government delegation is reneging on previously initialed protocols.
Lual Dau – also the spokesperson of UPA – parties agreed on the eight protocols after lengthy discussions and compromises for the sake of lasting peace in the country.
He suggested that the new government delegation should follow the footsteps of the previous team and take over from where they left.
“We know that when you negotiate, there are compromises. We sat with the previous government delegation and made good compromises and we managed to agree on eight protocols,” he told Eye Radio’s Dawn Show.
Mr. Dau said the eights protocols were supposed to be signed on 15th of September 2024, before the transitional government decided to postpone elections and extend its tenure until December 2026.
“They came and reneged from the Tumaini protocols that we agreed with them. These were not our protocols. It was an agreement between the United People’s Alliance, the government of South Sudan, and stakeholders. Now they left them.”
“Peace is about compromises and if the government is serious to seek for a lasting solution, I’m sure we will be in position to compromise and move forward.”
The government delegation was not immediately available for comment on the matter.
However, the Rapporteur of government delegation Dr. Martin Elia Lomuro said prior to resumption of the talks that his team would respond to the initialed protocols, but added that they were not intending to revisit the document.
In July 2024, parties to the Kenya-led peace process reached an agreement on eight protocols related to the security sector and other areas, signaling key breakthrough in the months-long negotiations.
The initialed document outlines the Statement of Purpose for Tumaini, Preamble, Security Agreement and Ceasefire, addressing communal violence and proliferation of arms among civilians, and resolutions for land disputes.
Additional protocols include Trust and Confidence-Building measures, Humanitarian Access, and the role of Guarantors to the peace agreement.
But the peace process already faced challenges in June 2024 when SPLM-IO withdrew, alleging that the protocols and proposed institutions were parallel or replacing some of those under the 2018 peace accord.
The main peace partner also said the Nairobi peace process undermined the sovereignty of South Sudan by establishing five institutions with the head and deputies to be appointed by the regional body, IGAD.
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