President Salva Kiir has distanced himself from the growing stalemate that is preventing the graduation of the unified forces.

Kiir slammed the SPLM/A-IO and other opposition parties for the delay in his address to the nation on Monday evening. He emphasised that his government had no underlying obstacles to the process, but the opposition had army officers without forces to command.

He said the presidency had agreed that the forces would be screened to ensure that they had the necessary ranks so that they could be graduated.

 “(SPLM/A-IO) and all the other opposition came with very senior officers, from Lt Gen, down to Colonel. You cannot find a single soldier, if they are 3,000, you will find that maybe 2,000 are officers, and (the 1,000) will comprise of junior officers, and [when] we counted them, there were having eight NCOs,” Kiir said.

He added that the parties to the agreement agreed to work on reducing the ranks within one week, but months kept on passing without any action being taken.

The president reiterated that he could not reduce the ranks of forces being commanded by other people because it might cause defections or take the country back to war, which he said he did not want.

“Yes, I am the president, but I cannot do this. This may cause defection in your forces and that may result in war. I don’t want this to happen, “Kiir told the opposition parties.

“He told me (Dr Machar), give me seven days, and I will do it. Until now, the months have only passed. He did not do it. This is the reason why we have not yet completed the organisation and the graduation of forces.”

“Delaying tactic”

The Director for Information and Public Relations in the Office of the First Vice President, Puok Both Baluang, told the City Review that the reduction of ranks was already completed and that they currently have their forces ready for graduation.

He said that claims of opposition forces having ranks without soldiers to command were a delaying tactic from the SSPDF, and the SPLM-IG, to delay the graduation of forces.

“Our component in the security mechanism went back to all the training centres and carried out the task that was given to them by the Presidency. All this was done, so, this issue of the ranks is another delay tactic from the SSPDF/SPLM-IG to delay the graduation of forces, “Puok said.

Puok said the pending issue was for the parties to agree on the sharing ratio of the command, adding that it should be shared on a 50:50 basis between the government and the opposition, according to the agreement he claimed was reached at a workshop in Khartoum.

The information director added that the security bill was also yet to be passed by parliament.

He added that the First Vice President, Dr Machar, was ready for dialogue when called by the president, adding that they had requested meetings several times with the president but were turned down.

Doors open

Concerning the withdrawal from the meetings or security mechanisms, the president noted that the doors were open for dialogue for a peaceful resolution to be reached with the First Vice President, Dr Riek Machar Teny.

“There is no obstacle that cannot be solved. Any obstacle on the way, must be resolved before you proceed forward. So if there is anything, I talked about dialogue, if there is dialogue, all the obstacles can be resolved, “the President stated.

“What SPLM/A-IO did was not the right decision to take and just move to implement it without sharing their ideas with the partners in the agreement. And up to now, the door is open, to enter into dialogue with the national congress in the person of the First Vice President, or all his group, I am ready.”

He articulated that the peace agreement was complicated to the extent that people felt it was designed not to be implemented, adding that the government was patient enough with its implementation to ensure that a concrete solution is met.

“We do not have any problem with being patient, but we must reach a logical conclusion. These are the things that make us to delay the implementation. Somebody brings you a general but does not have soldiers. And he expects you to come and absorb these officers, into your command. How do you absorb them and who will lead them?” he continued.

Delayed graduation

In February, the SSPDF Spokesperson, Maj Gen Lul Ruai Koang, said they were only waiting for the graduation of forces from the Chiefs of Staff and Director-Generals of the National Security Service, the police and other organised forces.

“The presidency directed the JDB to prepare the graduation timetable… We have not received any directives from them. “[We may receive it], but I don’t know how soon],” Lul said.

The Joint Defence Board (JDB) briefed the presidency about challenges facing the graduation of forces, including flooding, and poor logistics to the cantonment and training centres.

The Presidency, therefore, directed the Joint Transitional Security Committee (JTSC) to organise the timetable which would be approved in the next meeting of the presidency.