Machar ‘confident’ country will be secure once peace forces are deployed

JUBA – South Sudan’s First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny has expressed optimism for security, saying that the war-torn country will be peaceful and secure once the Necessary Unified Forces (NUF), which were graduated recently, are deployed.

Machar who is also the leader of the main armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) was speaking during the opening session of the 6^th Governors’ Forum also said phase two of the training and graduate of forces will commence soon.

“We have graduated the forces in phase one. We are confident the country will be secure once these forces are deployed,” he said.

“We are also confident that the phase two of it shall commence as soon as possible and actually the President has ordered for that in the first graduation,” he added.

A total of 49,300 of the Necessary Unified Forces have been graduated since it started in August in Central Equatoria State. The previous graduation of the forces was conducted on Monday in Upper Nile state’s capital Malakal where 9533 of the peace forces graduated.

The parties are expected to graduate the last batch of the first batch of the unified forces in phase one in Unity State, and will immediately commence the cantonment and training of the forces in phase two of the training and graduation of forces chapter two of the security arrangement.