South Sudan trains over 5000 police officers for referendum
October 8, 2010 (JUBA) – The regional government of South Sudan on Friday confirmed that 5,450 police officers have been trained specifically dedicated to the protection the conduct of the upcoming referendum.
Describing police as the face and shape of good governance in any country, he said the region had no well trained police forces. He blamed insecurity in the region on groups he termed ‘enemies of peace’.
“There have been people working hard day and night supplying arms and ammunitions to civilians and militias with intention to make the government of southern Sudan fail the government and deny people of Southern Sudan an opportunity to enjoy the dividends of peace brought about by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA),” said minister Chuang in the presence of the visiting United Nations delegation.
General Acuil Tito, the Inspector General of Police, also said that the police force in Southern Sudan is facing enormous transition challenges due to lack of equipment to facilitate their operations. Tito added that the Southern Sudan police force needs over US $50 million to equip the police.
He appealed to the international community to assist police in Southern Sudan to enable it to deliver its mandate of providing security and protection to the civil population now and beyond the referendum.
“We recruited over 6,000 recruits but due to some difficulties, the forces went down to 4,000 personnel yet the initial plan of the government was to train 15,000 police personnel in Southern Sudan to cover the vast region”, said Tito.
General Gordon Micah Kur, Deputy Inspector of Police said that the target to train 15,000 new police men and women was not achieved due to lack of equipment.
(ST)