The Joint Military Ceasefire Commission (JMCC) on Tuesday transported government and opposition forces to the training centre in Masana Beera, Wau State.
The JMCC is a joint security mechanism responsible for oversight and coordination of forces in cantonment and barracks.
Brig. Gen. Awien Thon, the head of JMCC Bahr el Ghazal region, told reporters that they have started transporting the unified forces from military barracks and cantonment sites in the greater Bahr el Ghazal region for training.
“We transported the organized forces from Ngo-Halima to Masana Beera, and the same thing applies to forces coming from Raja and Pantit. The Joint Transitional Security Committee (JTSC) will take the responsibility of the training,” he explained.
Lt. Gen. Garang Akol, head of the Joint Transitional Security Committee (JTSC), said the unified forces would be screened before the training takes place.
“We have eligibility criteria for officers because military is knowledge. The requirements are that the officer should be experienced, educated and fit,” Akol said.
“You have to be fit as a soldier to carry out your duty effectively. But if you are sick, you will be taken to the DDR [disarmament, demobilization and reintegration], and if you are fit and your age is from 18 to 65 years old, you will serve in the military,” he added.
Akol pointed out that the committee supervising the screening of the necessary unified forces is composed of all peace partners and international peace monitors.
He appealed to the forces in the various training centres in the country to accept the eligibility criteria set by the Joint Transitional Security Committee.
The preparations to train the unified forces came one month after the national government allocated $16.5 million for the security mechanisms to speed up the creation of unified forces, a key requirement of the 2018 peace deal.
President Kiir and opposition leaders missed the November 12 deadline, 2019 to form a unity government and agreed to give themselves another 100 days to address the outstanding issues and then form the government in February.