The Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) called on the South Sudan Opposition Movement Alliance groups to take advantage of the Nairobi peace talks and build on the already existing Rome Peace talk held in the Vatican with the mediation of the Sant’Egidio Community.

“The absence of Gen. Thomas Cirillo’s group of NAS and Emmanuel Ajawin of NDM-PF is not healthy in securing absolute political stability in some parts of the country but also attempts for building peace cannot wait for everybody at the same,” said Edmund Yakani, the Executive Director of CEPO. 

Yakani called on the holdout groups to send their delegations to the Nairobi talks to show their interest in peace in the country.

“We are urging the leaders of NAS under the leadership of Gen. Thomas Cirillo and NDM-PF under the leadership of Emmanuel Ajawin to send delegates to confirm the spirit of the peace talks for the best interest of showing commitment for realization of political stability for the suffering citizens of the country they aspire to govern one day in future,” Yakani urged. 

According to him, the Nairobi peace talks will hold water or bring real political solutions between the government and the holdout groups if all conflicting parties in the peace mediation table of Nairobi demonstrated high level of political maturity and discipline.

He stated that they should focus on the actual political issues that created the political instability than sorting out their personal interests and grievances.

“Every party on the table should take a step of political responsibility for negotiating peace with positive attitudes towards their political opponents without using the peace mediation as tool of political integration for winning political dominance,” said Yakani.

Yakani added, “nurturing peace talks that generate regaining of trust and confidence among the mediating parties is essential for securing concrete and tangible results or else the peace talks may end up as a political tourism like in the past.”

Yakani also urged the mediation team to make the mediation more inclusive and freer from any form of political threats or risk posted against any actor around the mediation table.

During the opening of the high-level mediation for South Sudan last week, the interim chairperson of RJMEC Maj. Gen. (rtd) Charles Tai Gituai hailed the South Sudan mediation process in Nairobi, Kenya, saying it will come out with a framework of inclusivity to address the differences and enhance the peace process.