South Sudan hasn’t yet set date for graduation of remaining peace forces – spokesman

JUBA – South Sudan government has not yet set a date for graduation of the remaining unified forces in the states, according to SPLA-IO spokesman Lam Paul Gabriel who is also a member of the Joint Transitional Security Committee (JTSC).

Yesterday, the government of Eastern Equatoria state announced that it has postponed graduation of at least 2500 members of the unified forces there largely because of lack of resources, administrative issues and absenteeism among the opposition forces delegated to the unified forces.

In a brief statement on Wednesday however, Col. Lam said the JTSC has proposed several dates to the National Transitional Committee (NTC) responsible for the graduation of forces but still no date has been yet set for this purpose.

“There is inaccurate information on social media regarding graduation dates for the remaining NUF in the States. The JTSC made proposals of several dates which were tabled to the NTC for approval,” the senior SPLA-IO official said.

“The right dates for the graduation will be approved and will be officially announced by the responsible body (NTC) for implementation,” he added.

Lam further appealed to media houses “to seek accurate information from right sources to avoid confusion.”