President William Ruto is set to fly out to South Sudan on Wednesday, November 6 for a meeting with President Salva Kiir.
Speaking on Tuesday, November 5, South Sudan's Presidential Press Secretary Lily Martin Manyiel Ayuel said Ruto will brief Kiir on the progress of Tumaini Peace Initiative, a high-level mediation for the conflict in South Sudan mediated by Ruto.
“The purpose of the visit, the working visit for President Ruto, is to inform, compare notes, touch base, and update President Salva Kiir Mayardit on the peace talks.
"This visit will be important too because it will put to rest impressions out there. There is so much impression going out there that His Excellency the President has aborted, abandoned, and is no more interested in the Tumaini Initiative," Manyiel said.
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The Tumaini Peace Initiative, launched on May 9, 2024, in Nairobi, aims to mediate the ongoing conflict in South Sudan by including holdout groups that did not sign the 2018 Revitalised Agreement on Resolution of Conflict (R-ARCSS).
Led by Ruto and Kiir, the initiative seeks to establish a new interim government, justice reforms, and a unified military.
“This initiative exemplifies the Pan-African policy of African solutions to African challenges, contributing to the ‘Silencing the Guns in Africa initiative’ and fostering an environment for transformational development in South Sudan, our region, and the entire African continent,” Ruto said during the launch of the initiative.
In December 2023, Kiir requested Ruto to assume the mediation role in peace talks previously led by the Community of Sant’Egidio in Rome.
Kiir expressed concerns that the negotiations had been prolonged without yielding solutions, prompting the shift to Kenya for further discussions on integrating holdout groups into the 2018 peace agreement.
