Gatluak says graduation plans on top gear, even without guns
The government has resolved to inaugurate the necessary unified forces without guns, and that they will be armed by their respective units if there are any, the Presidential Advisor on Security and Chair of the National Transitional Committee, Tut Gatluak, has said.
Speaking to the media in his office on Thursday, Mr Gatluak said all the arrangements were in place to ensure the graduation exercise begins after the Easter holidays without fail.
“Thank God that the president has distributed the command in all the organised forces among the parties to high ranking officers. The forces have to be graduated and deployed. They will get [guns] or other things in their respective units, “Maybe when the international community will have changed their minds to lift sanctions on South Sudan to allow the government to procure arms,” he remarked.
The graduation of the first batch of the necessary unified forces that should have taken place in 2020 has been postponed to date. The leaders have given many excuses, including financial and logistical constraints, for dragging the period of less than 10 months to the close of the transitional period.
Early this month, President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Dr Riek Machar made a breakthrough, resolving their differences on unified command structures of the organised forces and witnessing Tuesday’s milestone of appointments of senior government and opposition groups’ offices to command the joint forces.
“We do not have guns, and no one has supported us to date because the country is under the UN’s sanction. The forces’ graduation was affected by a lack of political will on how to share the command of the armed forces. It was not because of guns, which we do not have,” said Gatluak.
In November last year, President Kiir blamed the UN Security Council for imposing sanctions on the country, rendering his government helpless to graduate the forces, but said he would do so even with sticks.
“We have repeatedly informed the UN system about the negative impact this has on the implementation of chapter two of the agreement, and all we have received in return are more conditions that do not recognise the progress achieved so far,” said Kiir.
“Hence, in the distance, we will have no option other than to graduate these forces with sticks when the other two challenges are resolved,” he added.
Currently, about 50,000 of the required 83,000 necessary unified forces are provided for in Chapter Two of the security arrangements at various training centres across the country. Some of the forces were reported to have deserted due to deplorable conditions as the centres were hard hit by a lack of food, medicine, and clean and safe drinking water.
But Gatluak assured the trainees of no further delay, calling on them to report back as the process will soon begin to pave the way for the second batch to join the training.
“Everything is ready after [Eastern feast] the high command will sit and come up with the timetable for the graduation of the forces. There is nothing again. No dispute about graduation. The forces are organised already at training centres. In the coming week, the timetable for the graduation will be ready.” Gatluak added.
Recently, the EU High Representative in South Sudan, Joseph Borrell, called on parties to urgently implement the signed unified army command to de-escalate violence that continues in many parts of the country.
Mr. Borrell stated, “The EU urges the parties to genuinely and swiftly implement the agreed steps, to contribute to a de-escalation of the tensions in the country.”
South Sudan’s 2018 revitalised peace agreement implementation has remained far behind schedule, raising the question of whether the transitional period will be pushed for the fourth time since the commencement of the coalition government in 2019.
