WAU – A high-level delegation of the Joint Defense Board (JDB) are in South Sudan’s Western Bahr el Ghazal State to prepare for the second phase of training for the Necessary Unified Forces (NUFs).
On Tuesday, the team visited forces cantoned in the Ngo-Halima area.
The high level delegation comprises of General Gabriel Duop Both, General Ashab Khamis Fahal, General Samson Wesley Welebe and other senior officers, including the SPLA-IO spokesperson, Col. Lam Gabriel Paul.
The state governor, Sarah Cleto Hassan urged the forces to report to the training centres and update them on the middle command preparation progress.
“The purpose of this mission is to prepare the cantoned forces for Phase II of training, graduation and deployment of the Necessary Unified Forces, instruct them to report to training centers, update them on the progress of Middle Command preparations,” she posted on Facebook Tuesday.
Cleto acknowledged the hospitality of Maj. Gen. Benson Joseph the commander of Division 6 (A), respective brigade commanders and senior officers.
“Today I am glad to have joined a delegation sent by the Joint Defense Board (JDB) from Juba to visit forces cantoned in the Ngo-Halima area, Western Bahr El-Ghazal State (WBGS), among others,” she noted.
Last month, the peace monitoring body (R-JMEC) said the government had failed to deploy 51,000 (NUFs) due to disagreement over the unified command structure for prisons, wildlife, fire brigade and national security.
It said out of over 6,000 SPLA-IO soldiers, more than 3,700 are officers with high ranks compared to slightly above 2,000 non-commissioned officers.
In November 2023, 4,000 NUF personnel were deployed to Upper Nile, Eastern Equatoria, Western Equatoria and Western Bahr el Ghazal states.
