Army battalion embarks on farming after DRC peacekeeping mission postponed

JUBA, JUNE 12, 2023 (SUDANS POST) – South Sudan army battalion which was initially dispatched to Western Equatoria State ahead of a peacekeeping mission to the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo has embarked on farming after the government postponed the mission, an army officer said.

Colonel Malual Johnson, head of the battalion, said they have decided to cultivate because they have been in the area since June 2022 without proceeding to the DR Congo where they were supposed to be and revealed that their mission has been postponed.

“We arrived in Western Equatoria State on June 11, 2022, and up to now we are staying peacefully with the entire population after our mission to the DR Congo was postponed. We thought of how we could live,” he said.

“We decided to cultivate some crops, and this was the first step taken to plant this maize. Our cultivation started last March, and now we have reached 50 feddans of maize and some other vegetable crops,” the army officer added,

He said that the SSPDF battalion convinced its soldiers “that what we can do with our own hands [because this is] what can promote our living standards as soldiers, so we cannot always depend on the logistics, but we can add our energy to produce our local products in our land.”

South Sudan last year dispatched a battalion of 750 soldiers as part of the East African Community stabilization mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The forces have stranded in Western Equatoria in what the government blamed on logistical challenges.

The DR Congo government has previously asked the regional protection force to leave the country after accusing them of cooperating with the rebel M23 movement which has gained ground in the east of the country recently.