M7 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

President Museveni has emphasized peace for South Sudan, as the country reached a milestone in its recovery process from the civil war, during the first batch of unified forces in the country – the national army and the police services graduated on Tuesday.

In his speech, Museveni said there is need to have lasting peace in order for South Sudan to  develop, adding that there is need to  focus on interests not identity. “I bring solidarity and congratulations from the brotherly people of Uganda to the people of South Sudan on this landmark milestone, for working in true spirit of the African progressive forces to build the country towards sustainable development based on interests and not identity,” he said.

“The four sectors for economic development are Commercial agriculture, industry, services and ICT. However you need peace to achieve all that.”

Speaking at the same function, South Sudan President, Salva Kiir  urged  the forces not to pay allegiance to any other leaders but to the country. “You are not a military wing of any of the parties to the conflict, you are now the first national security special organ of the Republic of South Sudan and as president, I am your Commander in Chief,”Kiir said.

“If your commanders-in-chief were the chairperson of SPLM-IO, Dr. Riek Machar, or Hussein Abdelbagi or any other unknown commander-in-chief, now you belong to the republic of South Sudan. It is your responsibility to defend the flag of our country with all its colors and the meaning attached to each of them.

𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐇  𝐒𝐔𝐃𝐀𝐍: 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬

The first batch of South Sudan’s unified forces officially graduated on Tuesday. H.E  Salva Kiir said during the ceremony that the implementation of the security arrangement has been one of the most challenging tasks since the signing of the peace pact in 2018.

The 21,973 graduates include 3,308 VIP protection forces, 4,366 police forces, 6,315 national security services, 1,120 prison services, 3,575 wildlife services, and 3,289 civil defense forces.

According to the 2018 revitalized peace deal, the nation is supposed to train and graduate a unified force of 83,000 personnel to take charge of security during the transitional period until 2023 when elections are held.

He warned the newly graduated forces to refrain from involvement in politics and their task is to protect the sovereignty of the country.

The ceremony was attended by H.E YK Museveni, President of Uganda, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, President of the Sovereign Council of Sudan, and representatives from the region and the international community.