Ceasefire Monitors tells Government to Quickly Deploy Unified Forces

By Awan Achiek

The unification of forces from former opposing groups in South Sudan and their employment have been a point of contention over the years of implementation of the peace agreement.

To date, as the country extends the transitional government of national unity for the second time, deployment of the necessary forces, 83,000 in number have not been completed compelling the body monitoring the permanent ceasefire in South Sudan to speed up their deployment.

Speaking at a meeting of the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM) yesterday, Maj. Gen. Yitayal Gelaw Bitew said the deployment of the forces will provide a degree of acceptance and a feeling of safety.

“The unification of forces represents the most visible example of Signatory Party cohesion and commitment to peace for the South Sudanese people,” Gelaw said.

The country has so far only deployed 51,000 out of 83,000 unified forces it passed out on 30^th August 2022.

In November 2023, 4,000 NUF personnel were deployed to the states of Upper Nile, Eastern Equatoria, Western Equatoria and Western Bahr El Ghazal.

Over 6,000 are SPLM/IO soldiers of which over 3,700 are officers with high ranks, and 2,000 Non Commissioned Officers.

An extension of the transitional period will see the government run up to 2026.

“Regarding the continuance of the transitional period, CTSAMVM welcomes the consensus that made the extension possible and acknowledges its limitations,” he said.

“The extension presents additional time to complete the implementation of the Transitional Security Arrangements, seek to facilitate dialogue and peaceful settlement of differences between the Signatory Parties to the R-ARCSS and promote trust building measures to stabilize South Sudan.”