South Sudan army prepares to graduate first batch for security arrangement

By Simon Deng

The assessment mission in Greater Bahr El Ghazel region undertaken by the Joint Transitional Security Committee (JTSC) to pave way for the graduation of the first batch of the unified forces is complete.

Maj.Gen Lul Ruai Koang, Spokesman for South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) confirmed to The Juba Echo that JTSC team that has been touring the various training centers in the entire region since the start of August has concluded it’s mission.

“We the team of Greater Bahr el Ghazel are done with the assessment mission, we will be reporting back, the second phase would be the Joint Defense Board (JDB) to decide for JTSC to come and prepare the forces for graduation,” said Koang on Thursday.

“Proposal is being made by JTSC on graduation of forces, the second step will be determined by the report the team will submit, we are going to have a meeting tomorrow to finalize proposal once the proposal is finalized it will be submitted to JDB then JDB will in turn submit the report to National Transitional Committee (NTC),” he disclosed.

Under the 2018 revitalized peace deal, JDB is charged with the responsibility of organizing, training and professionalizing the unified army while NTC supervises the implementation of the entire peace deal.