Soldiers parade at Luri Training Center at the deployment event. November 15, 2023. (Charles Wote).

The chairperson of the ceasefire monitoring body, Yitayal Gelaw Bitew, said security situation in South Sudan remains a concern due to the stagnating deployment of the Necessary Unified Forces (NUF) across the country.

Since the start of the NUF deployment in November 2023, only a handful of soldiers have been assigned out of the 53,000 graduated in the first phase of the security arrangement, according to the government.

Addressing the mechanism meeting, Maj. Gen. Gelaw disclosed that only 8 battalions have been deployed across South Sudan, leaving majority of the forces inactive.

He warned that the under-deployment of forces poses insecurity risks to the citizens.

Gelaw underscored that deploying unified forces across the country can avert conflicts and give space for citizen to coexist peacefully.

“The security landscape of South Sudan has shown a continued trend of reduced peace the essence of peace cannot be realized if citizen cannot freely engage with the forces,” he said.

“The deployment status remained unchanged with only 8 military barracks battalions deployed so far leaving other forces in active.”

He said such conflicts can be averted by deploying the necessary unified forces across the country and facilitating civilian interaction.

CTSAM-VM or Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangement Monitoring and Verification Mechanism, is responsible for monitoring, verification, compliance, and reporting on the progress of the permanent ceasefire and transitional security arrangements.

The mechanism has repeatedly expressed disappointment over the issue, adding that there have been no concrete developments concerning the full deployment of phase one of the force.