The First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny has appealed to the Kenyan mediation team, citing indiscretion from its mandate by seeking to replace or create parallel institutions.
Last month, the Government and holdout groups presented seven points to explain their concerns to the mediation team headed by Kenyan chief mediator, retired General Lazurus Sumbeiywo.
On Wednesday, Dr. Machar wrote a letter to Deputy Chief Mediator, Ambassador Mohamed Ali Guyo, co-mediator and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Special Envoy to South Sudan, Ambassador Ismail Wais, and Tobias Muller, a co-mediator representing the Rome-based Sant’ Egidio community.
“As one of the principals of the revitalized agreement on the resolution of the conflict in the republic of South Sudan, I am writing to your excellency to express my concerns on the mediators’ draft document entitled Tumaini Consensus and implementation framework for a permanent constitution and sustainable peace for South Sudan. after a thorough study of the draft document, I have observed the following serious concerns”, wrote Machar
According to the armed opposition leader, the document does not recognize the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) and appears to have been designed to replace the 2018 accord.
He insists some sections of the document establish alternative institutions replacing or running in parallel with those in the revitalized agreement.
“It is the parties’ signatory to the revitalized, acting together, which is the only body that has the power to initiate amendments of the agreement. The document has empowered the Tumaini initiative to be an annex to the revitalized and not a standby-alone agreement. in light of the above Tumaini abrogates the revitalized agreement when it was intended to complement the revitalized agreement by ensuring the inclusion of the non-signatories in the implementation of the agreement. therefore, the Tumaini initiative has deviated from its intended mandate”, explained Machar.
