UNMISS force commander visits Gbudue area to assess security situation (by Phillip Mbugo)
In the wake of challenges to establish a cantonment site in the Gbudue area for South Sudan’s opposition forces, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Force Commander visited Yambio on Friday, with a high-level delegation of officials from Juba and Li-rangu.
“The purpose of my coming was to call on the Governor with the commander of SSPDF [South Sudan People’s Defence Forces] and SPLA-IO [Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition], to assess the security situation and take stock of the process of peace as it is progressing in the area,” said Lieutenant General Shailesh Tinaikar.
General Tinaikar urged South Sudanese to be patient, as they await the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement to be completed.
“There is no other solution to this issue, and everybody must be patient,” he said.
The Governor of Gbudue Badagbu Daniel Rimbasa explained that the government was working hard to make sure food and other required items for the cantonment area were provided on time.
In a meeting held between the UNMISS Force Commander and the area leaders in Li-rangu – an opposition stronghold located about 25 kilometers from Yambio town – the representative of the commanders of SPLA-IO, General James Nando said more food, medicine and shelter was needed at the Sue cantonment site.
“We have received food from the Joint Military Ceasefire Committee which has been transported to Sue where the forces are being training, but the food is not enough, and we need medicine and shelter,” he said.
The opposition military leaders commended the good relationship between them and the Gbudue area government which, they said, has created a conducive environment for their free movement to town to attend meetings with the government, while civilians are going freely to the opposition-controlled area to tend their farms.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
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