The governors of territory controlled by SPLM-Juba resolved at a meeting last week to mobilize troops en masse toward frontline areas contested by the rival SPLM-IO faction.
The governors’ forum passed a resolution to deploy 30 per cent of organized forces from garrisons in seven states – those considered more firmly under control – and deploy them to the contested three states of the Greater Upper Nile region: Unity, Upper Nile and Jonglei States.
At the conclusion of the five-day forum, Caretaker Governor of Northern Bahr al-Ghazal Kuel Aguer Kuel announced the resolutions saying, “Thirty per cent of the organized forces from the other seven states are to be deployed to the devastated states of Upper Nile. This is because the organized forces are not there and it is not easy to recruit them very quickly.”