Preparations are ongoing for the graduation of the unified forces at Panyier, a unified military training centre on the outskirts of the Jonglei state capital, Bor town, military officials said.

Over 2,000 unified troops drawn from signatories to the revitalized peace agreement have been undergoing training at the centre since 2020.

The chief training instructor at the centre, Brig. Gen. John Achiek Ajith, told Radio Tamazuj Thursday that the forces are now doing final rehearsals and are ready to graduate.

“Our forces at Panyier are ready for graduation. We are now conducting rehearsal training to prepare the forces before the people from the headquarters come for the graduation,” he said. “There are over 2,000 troops from all the parties to the deal here at the centre.”

Gen. Achiek pointed out that the recent graduation of 21,953 forces in Juba boosted the morale of his forces, whom he said will be ready to discharge duties after integration into the national army.

Meanwhile, Major-General Lul Ruai Koang, the SSPDF spokesperson, said arrangements are being finalized for the graduation of the remaining unified forces.

“Our forces should be patient because they will graduate like their brothers in Juba. For the forces at Panyier, their military uniforms and other supplies are coming through Uganda,” he said. “After that, they will be combined with SPLA-IO forces to be brought from Moroto and those forces in OwinyKibul so that they graduate together. We are not graduating them under Upper Nile because of the proximity of Panyier.”                  

Gen. Ruai said arrangements to also graduate forces in Bahr el Ghazal are nearing completion and that uniforms and food meant for them have been supplied but are insufficient.

“For the forces in Upper Nile, the challenge is flooding because the Alel and Tofoukiya Training Centers are submerged, so we have to transport them to Malakal for graduation after receipt of uniforms and other logistical supplies from Sudan,” he said.

For his part, Ter Manyang, a civil society activist with the Center for Peace and Advocacy, called for the graduation and deployment of all the unified forces to tackle insecurity across the country. 

“As civil society, we welcomed the graduation because this is what citizens want,” Manyang said. “However, we are concerned about the lack of deployment and delays in graduating the remaining forces because they may abandon the training centres.”