Trainees during a visit of AU delegation on Friday, March 26, 2021. The peace soldiers are yet to be graduated | Credit | Lou Nelson/Eye Radio

Peace soldiers at Mapel training center in Western Bahr el Ghazal state are appealing to be sent home to cater for their families as they wait to be graduated since the process is taking long.

The trainees who have been stationed at the center since 2019 now say they are tired of the government’s promises to graduate them.

Some of them who voiced their frustrations on Eye Radio said they are also in dire need of food and clean drinking water.

One of the trainees who chose to be named only as Garang said the situation is becoming unbearable with the coming of the rainy season.

“We have completed the training a long time ago, we are ready for graduation, we are in the rainy season, our children are tired at home and we are tired at the training center,” Garang protested.

“I’m a soldier and I have to endure the situation but it should not be to this level, it should not be hunger, no food, no money for my family and no graduation, this is too much. You can come and see this situation by yourself, there is no food here at all,” he said.

Thousands of peace soldiers stationed at various cantonment sites across the country have on several occasions said the peace parties in Juba have forsaken them.

The government also made failed pledges to graduate the forces, but factors such as insufficient funding, lack of political will among the peace parties as well as allegations of many ranks in the opposition forces are said to be complicating the efforts.

Dozens of trainees are reported to have died of starvation and sickness in cantonment and training sites as they awaited the seemingly illusive graduation into the new national army.

Another soldier, William is also among peace forces stationed at Mapel Center since 2019.

He said the trainees have resorted to petty businesses like cutting woods for sale in order to cater for their families.

Speaking to Eye Radio, he reiterated his appeal to the government to graduate them as they are now approaching the fourth year at the center.

“We just want the government to graduate us so that we can go back to our children. We cannot stay here for nearly four years, the government is unable to do the graduation, we don’t understand why?

There are some comrades here who go out for a seven-hour walk to cut the trees and take some woods up to Tonj, they sell and get a few pounds to buy flour and come back to the center to survive, this is how we are living here,” he said.

Recently, the peace parties unified the command structure to pave way for the graduation of the unified forces.
However, the much anticipated graduation day has not been announced yet.

Chapter two of the revitalized peace agreement requires the cantonning, screening, and training of 83,000 Necessary Unified Forces to safeguard the peace deal.

According to the peace deal, unifying the forces will provide security guarantees for the transitional government of national unity, unlike in 2016 when the forces were divided.