Presidency to set date for graduation of Necessary Unified Forces
President Salva Kiir said that government will soon set the date for the graduation of the Necessary Unified Forces (NUF).
Kiir said the move will be to fast track the implementation of the Security Arrangements of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS).
“I don’t think that war will come again,” Kiir said during a public mass at Dr John Garang Mausoleum.
“I have said that many times that I don’t want to take the people of South Sudan return to war. And I will stick to my words to keep peace in South Sudan,” the president committed.
“We are implementing the peace agreement and very soon we are going to have a meeting (presidency ) to fix the date of the graduation of the unified forces,” Kiir announced.
Graduation of over 50, 000 forces is a critical part in the implementation of revitalized peace agreement.
In April, president Kiir confirmed the ranks of South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) commanders and those of the main opposition movement, Sudan People Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition (SPLM/A-IO).
The graduation of Unified Forces was scheduled by peace monitors to be done at the end of June, but did not go through.
Brig Gen Samuel Chan Mut, SSOA spokesperson and Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangement Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM) representative said the graduation would not take place due to lack of preparations as well as lack of the necessary logistics.
The government had been complaining of arms embargo imposed on South Sudan as the major obstacle to the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.