Ugandan police deploy officers in Juba to help S. Sudan crack down on criminals
October 6, 2013 (KAMPALA) – Ugandan police have deployed an officer in the country’s embassy in Juba to help South Sudan police in identifying suspected Ugandan criminals operating in the capital.
“The South Sudan police and the community complained that there are wrong elements from Uganda who have taken refuge in Juba. This officer has been sent there to help the South Sudan police in identify the criminals”, said Patrick Onyango, a spokesperson for the Ugandan police in an interview with Sudan Tribune on Friday.
The officer is from the so called “Flying Squad” – a crack unit of the Uganda police force tasked with dealing with violent crime.
“I have not got a brief [about the deployment] but I can confirm that he was recently deployed in Juba”, the police spokesperson said.
According to Onyango, the officer will be assisted by another officer who is already at Uganda’s embassy in Juba, as well as a third officer who is still in Uganda but will also be deployed in Juba soon.
Uganda’s inspector general of police Kale Kayihura and his South Sudanese counterpart, Gen. Peing Deng, recently met in Juba to discuss security, as well as persistent complaints of harassment by Ugandan traders in South Sudan and concerns that suspected Ugandans criminals were operating in Juba.
Addressing Ugandan traders in Juba at the recent meeting, Deng stressed that law abiding Ugandans will not be expelled from South Sudan and promised them that police would provide protection.
(ST)