The military has invited the public to attend the graduation ceremony of the necessary unified forces in Western Bahr el Ghazal State on Friday.
About 10,000 unified officers from various units are expected to graduate in Wau town tomorrow as part of the security arrangements stipulated in the revitalized peace agreement.
According to the 2018 peace deal, South Sudan is supposed to train and graduate a unified force of 83,000 personnel to take charge of security during the transitional period.
“You are all invited, the citizens of Bahr el Ghazal state. It is the day we have been waiting for, and tomorrow will be a great day for the greater Bahr el Ghazal region,” said Lt. Gen. Garang Ayii Akol, Head of the Joint Transitional Security Committee (JTSC) in the greater Bahr el Ghazal region.
“Today [Thursday], we have witnessed the last day of rehearsal, and the graduation will take place tomorrow, Friday,” said Akol.
Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. Abraham Gum Makuac, the army’s 5th Infantry Division commander, reiterated the commitment of the high military command to conduct the graduation as scheduled.
“I want to repeat that last time, we said that 21 September would be the graduation day, though it was postponed, today will not be like September. It is now evident that the graduation is tomorrow,” Makuac said.
“I want to tell the population of Wau, all the people of greater Bahr el Ghazal are here, let everyone come early morning to secure a seat so they can witness the graduation ceremony,” he said.
Makuac advised the members of the organized forces who will come to attend the graduation ceremony at the stadium not to carry their guns, saying security forces will be deployed to provide security.