Unified troops at Alelo training centre Upper Nile State - credit | courtesy

The Joint Military Ceasefire Committee has agreed to establish 17 cantonment sites for the start of the second phase of the training of the Necessary Unified Forces.

The decision was reached during a meeting of the committee on Tuesday, August 29.

According to the deal, the forces – mainly SPLA-IO and SOA will be registered, screened, and militarily formed before joining the government forces at the training centres.

Col Lam Paul, the Spokesperson of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, SPLA-IO confirmed to Eye Radio on Thursday, August 31, that the consensus reached among the peace parties.

“The meeting went very well, they agreed to establish around 17 cantonment sites for the opposition forces, which means SSOA and SPLA-IO,” said Col Lam.

“They will be registered, screened then put into military formation before they are taken to the training centres to be unified with the SSPDF and IG forces that’s going to happen,” he said.

“I can’t say how soon it will happen because that depends on the availability of resources and also the completion of phase one”.

The Phase One of the unification of the necessary unified forces took over three years and despite their graduation last year, they have not been redeployed.

Commenting on the delay, Colonel Lam attributed this to the lack of political will from the authorities.

“In reality, when it comes to the implementation of security arrangements, it is a matter of resources and political will. If the political will is there, they will be graduated and deployed,” Lam said.

“Phase one is delaying, not because we don’t have resources but because we lack the will to implement the security arrangements,” he said.

“There are people who think, they look at this security personnel, the reform agenda of the security unit to be like a threat to them and their positions that’s why we have these forces in the training centres.”

“These forces are ready to go out, deployed, they are already deployed, they are one force but if you hear some politicians still calling them SPLA-IO, SPLA-IG yet they are already unified.

“They are supposed to be necessary unified forces, you start wondering whether we have the national agenda or we don’t have”.

The unity government held the first graduation ceremony for the Necessary Unified Forces on 30 August last year.