Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The over 700 South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) that were deployed to a mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are still hold-up in Western Equatoria, even as the mission now proves to be a long shot for the government.
The government is still fumbling at the questions being thrown at them – about the mission, which could gobble up millions of shillings from the exchequer.
Last December, President Salva Kiir flagged off a battalion of 720 soldiers, presumably the best in the ranks, for a mission in eastern DR Congo, an area infected by March (M23) rebels.
The M23 is currently fighting the DR Congo government, with the support of Rwandan forces. The insecurity in one of the (EAC) member states attracted the attention of the regional block, which sent a unified force to help flush out the rebels.
The 720 SSPDF soldiers are part of the EAC Joint Regional Force.
The SSPDF battalion was supposed to have reached Goma, the planned area of operation, by early January, at the latest.
However, to date, the forces have not reached the Congo. They’ve not even crossed the border, with most of them still stuck in Yambio.
Bilpam said the delay was occasioned by logistical challenges.
“What I know so far is that the issue of putting logistics together on our side is what is partly responsible for this delay,” Lul Ruai Koang, SPPDF spokesman, told City Review.
Last week, East African heads of state resolved that all troop-contributing countries, including South Sudan and Uganda, should deploy their forces as soon as possible. South Sudan skipped the head of state summit.
But it is still not clear when the SSPDF will step into Congolese territory for the long-awaited peace mission.
Lul confirmed that the troops are on standby, ready to be deployed as soon as the teething problems are resolved.
He added that a coordinating team that was sent to Congo, is finalizing the necessary arrangements before the bigger team arrives.
But in Juba, the bigger team had already been cleared by the President to take part in a first mission outside the border of South Sudan.
“They (soldiers) are in the final stages of preparation so that the crossing to the DRC can take place as we speak, and we have our coordination team in Goma coordinating with those authorities,” he explained.
He added that the army is still dealing with “some logistical issues,” but that it is ready at the border, waiting for movement.
However, Gen Lul said he was not aware of the necessary processes to be taken by the Congolese government and the SSPDF coordinators in Congo to respond to the East African head of state directives on the quick deployment of forces.
“Our team was sent a leader so that they could coordinate with the authorities (the DRC government), identify where our forces would be, and do everything else related to operations,” he stressed.
In efforts to protect and restore peace in Congo, South Sudan sent its 750 troops for the peace mission in December 2022, but till now the forces have not yet arrived in the restive region.
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