The Intergovernmental Authority on Development on Sunday welcomed the signing of an agreement on the unification of forces between South Sudan parties to the peace agreement.
Executive Secretary Dr Workneh Gebeyehu applauded the agreement as an important milestone towards the full implementation of Transitional Security Arrangements in particular and the peace agreement in general.
He also commended South Sudan President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar and the parties to the agreement for the goodwill and thanked the government of Sudan, the Chair of IGAD, for brokering the deal.
Dr Workneh, however, called on all the parties to respect the terms of the agreement and implement it fully, faithfully and timely.
Rival parties in the South Sudan conflict agreed to the unification of military command on Sunday, representing a key step in the implementation of the 2018 revitalized peace agreement.
The deal, which was mediated by Sudan’s Sovereign Council deputy chairman Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo now paves way for the graduation of forces from cantonment sites and fast-track their deployment to provide security and protection for the population and defend the country’s territorial integrity.
The accord ends the tension that was building up in the country after relations between President Kiir and Vice President Machar deteriorated following the latter’s withdrawal from the security mechanism.
Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission interim chairman Maj Gen Charles Tai Gituai had last week warned that the increasing fighting between opposition troops threatened the unification of forces process.
The unification of the forces and training is one of the provisions in the revitalized peace agreement.
Training of the necessary unified forces started in 2020 across all training centres but their graduation has been adjourned on several occasions
Chapter II of the peace accord provides for the training and unification of the necessary 83,000 forces into one unified professionalism army.
