Senior military officers attending the training in Nairobi, Kenya on Monday Dec. 7, 2020. Credit|Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Defence.

Government and opposition army commanders have completed a one-week course on leadership, peacebuilding and reconstruction to facilitate the unification of forces cantoned at the training sites across the country.

The training was organized by the peace monitoring body — the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) in Nairobi, Kenya.

Addressing the army commanders, the Chief of Defense Forces, General Johnson Juma Okot said the training marked the beginning of the unification of government and opposition forces.

“You need to begin to understand that we have been trying to put our forces on training. We are soon or later going to graduate them. We are lucky that the unification is now starting with you,” Gen. Okot said on Sunday.

“We are starting the unification from here because when we go back home, it will be different.”

The revitalized peace agreement requires the cantonment, screening, and training of 83,000 Necessary Unified Forces to safeguard the deal through the Transitional Period.

The induction training is expected to help senior military officers implement the nucleus of the security arrangements which include the graduation of already-trained forces.

Their graduation has been postponed for more than twice this year over claims of inadequate funds.

Political analysts believe delaying the deployment of the Necessary Unified Forces poses  a threat to the unity government.

In the past two weeks, there have been reports of clashes in the Kajo-Keji area in Central Equatoria State between the SPLA-IO and the SSPDF after General Moses Lokujo switched to the SSPDF.

Hundreds of civilians have reportedly been displaced by the conflict that started at the Moroto training site.

Following the clashes, the main opposition group — SPLA-IO called for speedy unification of the forces to avoid the recurrence of conflict in other parts of the country.