President Salva Kiir has banned all active military personnel and police officers from engaging in politics as South Sudan gears towards producing a professional army as provided for in the 2018 revitalized peace agreement.
The Republican Order issued on Friday, December 31, 2021, also prohibits active army personnel and other regular forces from leading the community, youth, and women’s organisations.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});They are further banned from spreading propaganda or hate speech on social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and Instagram, among others.
“All active officers and non-commissioned offices in the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces and the other regular forces [are barred] from participating in politics, the leadership of respective communities, youth or women organisations, the promotion of propaganda and hate speeches on social media platforms are hereby ordered to cease from such acts rather concentrate on their constitutional mandate.
“The commands of the army and that of all the other regular parties including the National Security are hereby ordered to enforce this order by ensuring that any officer or non-commissioned officer (NCOs) involved in the aforementioned unlawful activities refrain with immediate effect,” the order partly read.
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President Kiir ordered strict adherence to the order and that any violator shall be punished according to the law of the country.
“Any officer or non-commissioned officer who fails to adhere to the enforcement of this order shall be investigated by the relevant authority and punished in accordance with the law,” the president warned.
It was not clear what prompted the order but in his address to the nation on the eve of the New Year, the president said the government was in the process of graduating the nonpartisan forces to take charge of the country’s defence.
“When graduated, the Unified Forces will not be the army of any political party. It will be a professionalised force tasked with defending the territory of South Sudan, its people, and their property. When instituted, the Unified Forces will act as guarantors for political stability and social-economic development of South Sudan for generations,” President Kiir said.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});According to the Chapter Two of the revitalised peace agreement, South Sudan shall have 83, 000 joint forces of the SSPDF, SPLA-IO, and SSOA who shall be deployed to guard the transitional period.
In mid-December, the Joint Defense Board (JDB) dispatched screening committees to the three greater regions of Upper Nile, Equatoria, and Bahr el Ghazal to prepare forces who have spent more than two years at training centres for the overdue graduation.