Gov’t posts over 40,000 peace forces for disarmament to restore rule of law

JUBA – South Sudan’s Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGONU) is working to deploy at least 40,000 of the unified forces across the country to restore rule of law by disarming civilians, according to vice president James Wani Igga.

Speaking on Wednesday during the government’s launching of oil licensing round, Igga said the government is graduating part of the 83,000 unified forces provided for in the revitalized peace agreement.

The senior government official said those forces will be posted in different parts of the country to restore the rule of law and to also enable others to enter training sites as well.

“For permanent stability, the country must immediately conduct disarmament of the civil population. This should be our priority because most of the casualties are civilians -gunmen and gun women,” Igga said.

“We are now graduating half of that [83,000] so that the second batch will enter the training centers. They are supposed to be two batches, all amounting to 83,000,” the senior government official added.

Inter-communal violence motivated by revenge and cattle raids has killed at least 400 people between February and May 2021, according to figures by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).