The Chairman of the National Transitional Committee (NTC), Gen. Kuol Manyang Juk, on Thursday revealed that the second phase of the training of the Necessary Unified Forces will commence on 1 March.
Speaking during a plenary meeting of the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (R-JMEC) in Juba, Gen. Manyang said the newly reconstituted NTC had developed an action plan and budget for the completion of the security arrangements in the second chapter of the 2018 revitalized peace agreement.
“The secretariat of NTC and all the security mechanisms have worked out the action plan for the training of 150,000 unified forces in phase two with a total budget of USD 95 million,” he said. “The training process is expected to start on 1 March and end on 30 Nov 2025. This working document is the main task before us as NTC.
Gen. Manyang added: “I am working with NTC board members to bring it to the attention of the leadership of this country, the Presidency, that funding of the plan is crucial and urgently needed within the specified timeframe.”
He said the NTC is currently working to produce new rules and procedures governing the operation of the NTC and the management of funds.
“This is to ascertain transparency and accountability, and I would like to assure you that any single funding intended for the operation of NTC must be accounted for by the recipient and report accordingly, he stated. “We have a nine-month timeframe from 1 March to 30 November 2025 to do the job, and we have days ahead to get the funding.”
For his part, Ismail Wais, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) envoy to South Sudan, welcomed the NTC work plan, stressing the need to implement the security arrangements.
“The implementation is key, and I am happy to see that NTC has this time presented a roadmap. We all will stand for the implementation of this peace process, and as you know, transitional security arrangements are the backbone of this agreement,” he said. “I really hope this time that the unified forces will be completed by November this year as stimulated by the chairperson of NTC.”
“The people of South Sudan, the International Community, IGAD, and everybody is waiting to see that this transition is the last, and we will do everything possible to implement the peace agreement and conclude it with a fair and credible election,” Amb. Wais added.