Deployment of peace forces stalls over ranks squable

JUBA — South Sudan’s deployment of a 51,000-strong unified security force, crucial for implementing a 2018 peace deal, has been delayed due to disagreements over the leadership structure, a peace monitoring body said on Thursday.

Major General Charles Tai Gituai, Interim Chairperson of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC), told a plenary meeting in Juba that while 4,000 army personnel from the Necessary Unified Forces (NUF) had been deployed to four states, the majority from other security branches apart from the army remained undeployed.

“However, the status of Phase II for the training of the Necessary Unified Forces remains unclear,” Gituai said, adding that disagreements over the second echelon of the unified command structure were hindering progress.

South Sudan’s minister of cabinet affairs Martin Elia Lomuro confirmed the impasse, attributing it to an imbalance in officer ranks among the main opposition group, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO).

“Out of more than 6,000 SPLM-IO soldiers, some 3,700 are officers with high ranks compared to slightly above 2,000 NCOs,” Lomuro said. “Agreement on the second echelon of the unified army and the police are still outstanding.”

The deployment of the NUF, who graduated in 2022 from various armed groups, is a key requirement of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS), aimed at ending a brutal civil war that began in 2013.

The delay raises concerns about the pace of peace implementation and the continued presence of multiple armed groups across the country.