South Sudan’s First Vice President Taban Deng Gai appealed to the international community to support the SPLA army and reform the security sector before the upcoming general elections to ensure free and fair elections in 2018.
“Reforming the security sector is very crucial, so I think it should capture the attention of anybody from the TGoNU to the partners. I am appealing to JMEC, president Mogae in person that he should help us knocking the door of our donors,” Taban said during a consultative workshop of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) Board in Juba Yesterday.
“I think we need to support this sector. We have remained with 16 months and we are not going to deny South Sudanese their right to elect their leaders, so for this to happen, we need to reform the army and the security sector,” he added.
JMEC Chief of Staff, Ambassador Berhanu Kebede, said the peace monitoring body attaches paramount importance to all institutions and mechanisms created by the 2015 peace agreement.
“The SDSR process is critical to the creation of a professional, loyal to the constitution of the Republic of South Sudan, and manageable security forces capable of defending and securing the nation, as well as the territory of the Republic of South Sudan,” said Ambassador Kebede.
The SDSR process is spearheaded by a Board which has the responsibility of providing a road map for the security sector transformation, which outlines the details for the unification of the army, and security forces, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration and the security sector reform process.