At least 2,524 unified forces at Owinykibul Military Training Center are ready for graduation, the chief inspector of the centre has announced.

Earlier this month, the government announced August 30 as the date for graduating the soldiers.

Gen. Biliu told Radio Tamazuj on Thursday that there are currently about 2,524 forces at the Owinkibul training centre. “All the forces in Owinykibul are ready for graduation, and everyone is in the centre. As we speak, the forces who deserted and returned are 1,857,” he said.

“The forces who deserted are reporting daily. We have unified the forces, we trained them, and they are happy with the mixing that we have done. They call themselves soldiers of South Sudan. Even though they spent three years, they are happy with the training we did for them. The people who were staying are 667,” he added.

He said the Joint Defense Board and other peace mechanisms are in the process of equipping the unified forces with all the necessary materials for the graduation, including military gadgets.

“I am currently in Juba, we have made all possible preparations, and I will take military uniforms with me and their food ready. Everyone who was under Owinykibul unified training centre should report immediately,” he added.

Meanwhile, Oryema Emmanuel, an activist in Eastern Equatoria State, has welcomed the move, adding that the graduation will help restore security across the country.

“If it is right and true that the forces are going to be graduated at the end of this month as it was announced, it is a good move. This is one key element in the peace agreement, and if this is done, I think the issue of unknown gunmen and cattle raiding will reduce. When the forces graduate, they have to be deployed in different locations and south Sudan as a whole”, he said.

He, however, doubted the announcement of the graduation calendar given the numerous unsuccessful schedules in the past.

The 2018 revitalized peace deal expects the unity government to graduate 83,000 unified forces drawn from the various parties to take charge of security during the ongoing transitional period.

The parties had agreed to graduate the first batch of 53,000 forces.

Tens of thousands of forces have been assembled and trained at various cantonment sites and training centres across the country since 2020.

Dozens of trainees are reported to have died of starvation and sickness at the training sites as they awaited the graduation that never came.