Machar lauds Burhan for breaking command structure stalemate
September 2, 2022 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s First Vice President, Riek Machar has commended the chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, Gen Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan for breaking the deadlock on sharing the unified command structure.
He was speaking at Tuesday’s graduation of 21,000 members of the necessary unified forces to form a unified national army, police and other security forces.
“I also would like to thank H.E Abdel Fattah Al Burhan the President of Sudan Transitional Sovereign Council, and Chair of IGAD [Intergovernmental Authority on Development] for his support and also for breaking deadlocks when we got stuck in the implementation process of this agreement,” explained Machar.
“We also give thanks to President Al Burhan and his teams, special thanks for allowing food supplies from his country by land and river to reach the training centers despite the restrictions due to the war in Ukraine”, he added.
Of the 21,973 unified forces graduated, 3,308 personnel will be dedicated to providing protection senior government officials; 4,366 into the unified South Sudan National Police Service; 6,315 will be integrated into the unified National Security Service; 1,120 into a unified National Prison Service; 3,575 into the unified National Wildlife Service and 3,289 into unified National Civil Defense Service.
The opposition leader also thanked Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni for attending the passing out of the unified force, saying he was one of the guarantors who played a key role in the extension of the pre-transitional period in 2020 after the parties were unable to meet the deadline to training the necessary united force.
“Allow me also to thank President Museveni for coming and for his support, transitional security arrangements were the most important agenda for President Museveni. He initiated the creation of an extra security mechanism and called it the security supervision mechanism. Mr. President, you are welcome”, he said.
Machar also lauded IGAD, the bloc that mediated and brokered the peace deal.
“I would also like to thank all IGAD member states that supported and continued their support for the implementation of this agreement. I would like to thank the implementation mechanisms that have worked for years to ensure this agreement is implemented, and this includes the CTSAAM, R-JMEC the IGAD special envoy office for the work they did for this day to happen. I also would like to thank the international community TROIKA, IGAD, IGAD partners’ forums, EU, and China for their support and contributions at this juncture,” he stressed.
The First Vice President described the graduation of phase one of the unified forces within the transitional security arrangement, as the backbone of the peace deal.
Sudan and Uganda were the guarantors of the 2015 peace deal revitalized in 2018.
The two countries ensured the parties to the agreement cooperate to implement the deal, encouraging President Kiir and Machar, in particular to work together.
The 2018 revitalised peace deal requires the parties to train and graduate a unified force of 83,000 personnel to take charge of security during the transitional period.
(ST)