Matik Kueth
Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The South Sudan Civil Society Consortium in Diaspora (SSCSC) urged the government of Kenya to change the “Tumaini Initiative” term to avoid confusing the citizens.
In a statement obtained by The City Review on Friday, Dak Buoth, Chairperson of the South Sudan Civil Society in Diaspora, argued that there was a need for the peace negotiations in Nairobi, Kenya, to be renamed so that the South Sudanese people could comprehend it.
“Many of our people to whom this peace negotiation is dedicated have been calling consistently, to know and understand the meaning of the word ‘Tumaini’. As you are fondly aware, South Sudan is not a Kiswahili-speaking nation; and that is the reason why the language being used in the mediation is English alone. We, therefore, demand that you change the word ‘Tumaini’ to avoid any slightest feeling of confusion that may hinder the peace implementation process eventually,” Buoth said.
He stated that many inert peace agreements exist in South Sudan and that some of them are not being carried out as a result of the errors made by earlier peace brokers.
“For instance, in the capital Juba, you will find some dormant peace accords which are signed and written in Arabic that is neither an official nor a national language recognised in our Interim transitional constitution, 2011,” he stated.
Buoth emphasised that South Sudanese are the rightful proprietors of the dialogue, regardless of where the peace talks are being held.
He stressed that the mediation’s location in Nairobi does not justify referring to it in a language that is not known to South Sudan.
“We think the salient reason for calling the peace talks as “Tumaini initiative” could be that you want to give this mediation a mark to show that it was done on Kenyan soil. However, in our view the credit that we would like to accord you and the Kenyans at large is to make sure that the agreement which is going to come out from this negotiation is implemented to the letter and spirit,” he said.
He added, “The demand to remove the word Tumaini is done according to our legal right of information provided for in our domestic and international laws.
Source: The City Review South Sudan
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