JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — Southern Sudan The country’s vice president said Thursday that peace talks in neighboring Kenya have failed to recognize the country’s 2018 peace deal, claiming a new draft agreement is intended to replace the original peace deal.
Riek Machar in a letter of protest to the mediator of the talks, the mediator said the draft established alternative institutions to replace or parallel those established in the previous peace agreement. He added that the current peace talks should complement the original agreement and not destroy it.
The former rebel leader signed an agreement with President Salva Kiir in 2018, a five-year civil war that left around 400,000 people dead came to an end. Machar and Kiir faced off in the war and Machar was appointed vice president after the 2018 deal. His group is not part of the current talks, which are for groups not included in the 2018 agreement.
Despite the peace deal, violence has continued in South Sudan, most of it attributed to rebel groups and warring ethnic groups.
The body charged with overseeing the implementation of the 2018 peace deal expressed concern in May over the slow implementation of election-related tasks, with just a few months to go until December elections.
Opposition groups that were not part of the 2018 peace deal have been in talks in Kenya since May 9 to bring groups on board before the December elections.
The talks resulted in a draft agreement recommending an extension of the transition period to allow more time for election preparation.
President Kiir on Thursday received a progress report from government representatives in the ongoing talks with the government spokesperson, telling the media that the participants in the talks are close to reaching a final agreement.
