Stephen Par Kuol, the Minister of Peace Building, and the Interim leader of SPLM/A-IO in Juba - (Photo: PPU).

The transitional government’s security committees are set to meet soon to discuss work plans, budgets, and logistical arrangements for the cantonment areas and deployment of the necessary unified forces, according to peacebuilding minister Stephen Par Kuol.

Minister Par revealed on Thursday the conclusion of first meeting of the Joint Defense Board (JDB), Joint Technical Committee (JTC) and Joint Military Ceasefire Commission (JMCC) since recent insecurity in parts of the country.

“We have just concluded the first meeting of the security mechanism JDB, JTC, JMCC. We have introduced the mechanisms to the new chair of the NTC,” Par, also the Secretary General of  NTC, told the media.

President Salva Kiir reconstituted the National Transitional Committee (NTC) in January 2025, when he appointed Kuol Manyang Juuk in the place of Tut Gatluak as the mechanism’s new chairperson.

“The agenda of the meetings are: report on the status of the cantonment, report on the status of the training centers and their state of readiness for phase two to start in the training centers and the cantonment.”

“We also discussed issues pertaining to assembling of forces before they are transported to the training centers and also logistical arrangements from the SSPDF barracks to the training.”

Hon. Par said the session called for another bigger meeting for heads of various security mechanisms including representatives from the SSPDF, SPLA-IO and SSOA under the Joint Defense Board (JDB).

Other key security bodies included to take part are Joint Military Ceasefire Commission, Joint Transitional Security Committee and Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) Commission as well as, Strategic Defense and Security Review Board.

“The meeting concluded with the resolution that we will have another bigger meetings next week where the head of the security mechanism will come with work plans, budgets, proposals and so on and so forth and the NTC will also report on the logistical arrangement of the cantonment processes.”

The 2018 peace deal stipulates that the training, graduation and deployment of 83,000 security force assembled from the parties to ensure security and facilitate the country’s peaceful transition to democracy through elections.

However, since over 53,000 unified soldiers drawn from former rival groups were trained and graduated in August 2022, less than 10 percent of the force has been deployed, according to the latest report of ceasefire monitor CTSAM-VM.

The security committees meeting, aimed to speed up implementation of the security arrangement, follows the conflict in Upper Nile State which has been linked to a political tension and arrest of several SPLM-IO security officials in Juba.

Bilpam has revealed that Deputy Director General for Operations of National Security Service Lt. Gen. Yeiy Dak has fled Juba to Jonglei State after the detention of Deputy Chief of Defense Force Gabriel Duop Lam and other officials.

On Wednesday, IGAD Executive Secretary Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu informed regional leaders in a report at the 43rd summit, that the South Sudan presidency’s mutual confidence was “gravely undermined and the security arrangement mechanisms were in disuse.

The diplomat added that progress on critical reforms in the peace deal, including drafting of a new constitution and preparations for elections, remain stalled.

The IGAD official advised that the Joint Defense Board be promptly reconvened to address contentious deployments and oversee the safe withdrawal of forces, in coordination with UNMISS.