R-ARCISS: Parties graduate 1701 more troops

JUBA – The parties to the Revitalized Peace Agreement for Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCISS) on Tuesday graduated at least 1,701 more soldiers of the unified forces in the country’s Jonglei State where defense minister Angelina Teny urged the peace troops to protect the country.

The forces, which include army, police, national security service, and prison service, are part of the first batch of the unified forces that will take charge of the country’s security as provided for in chapter two of the 2018 peace deal.

Speaking during the graduation ceremony in Bor town on Tuesday morning, Mrs. Teny who is also a senior member of the main armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) called on the forces to protect and defense the country.

“You have been trained as professional soldiers so that you can protect citizens of this country and you should also respect and protect foreigners,” Teny said.

The senior government official further said her ministry will start the transformation of the security sector after the completion of the unification process.

“When we are done with all these processes, we will start transformation and security sector reform so that you will be deployed to the region to provide security to other nations,” she said.

Minister of Interior Mahmoud Solomon Agook urged the forces to refrain from activities that he said may undermine security.

“I would like you to respect civilians and behave in a professional way so that they can also respect you. You should also respect and protect foreigners working in South Sudan,” Solomon said.

Jacob Akech Dengdit, Deputy Governor of Jonglei State urged the troops to protect the constitution and territorial borders of South Sudan from external threats.

“All over the world, the work of the army is defending the interest, the constitution and the border of any nation and that is what you the forces graduating today need to do,” Dengdit said.

Dengdit stressed the need to offer vocational training to soldiers to be able to tackle disasters

“This army needs to train to be able to tackle any disaster that may occur in South Sudan. They should be trained in engineering, plumbing, and electronics so that when we have floods they would respond.”