NTC Chairperson Tut Gatluak. (Photo: Awan Moses).

The chairperson of the peace monitoring body said he received assurances from the Presidential Advisor on Security Affairs that the unification of the forces will be completed mid-next year.

R-JMEC’s head, General Charles Tai Gituai revealed this after a meeting with Tut Gatluak who is also the Chairperson of Transitional Security Committee in Juba yesterday.

According to him, the Presidential Affairs Advisor said he is very serious about the matter and assured him that progress will be seen in early February next year.

General Gituai said they discussed at length the need to have the funding necessary for implementation of the critical provision of the 2018 peace agreement.

Additionally, he said they discussed the need for political leaders for the country to hold elections by the end of these two years.

“We discussed at length the need to have also the funding which is very critical on these issues of implementation and more importantly the political will to see that by the end of these two years, we’ll have elections,” General Gituai stated on the state-owned TV, SSBC.

“The Honourable Advisor informed me that he is very much serious about this issue and he assured me that beginning of February we shall be able to see progress, particularly on the issues regarding the unification of forces and more importantly by the end of May this matter will be completed,” he said.

“He also assured me that this country is secure unlike the rumours that are going on around and he is very much serious about ensuring that everything is working in accordance with the requirements of the agreement,” he said.

“We also discussed the Tumaini initiative talks that are going on in Nairobi and he informed me that the most important thing in these talks is to have reconciliation and also to have inclusivity,” he concluded.