Kenya to train South Sudan prison officers

June 21, 2007 (NAIROBI) — Kenya and southern Sudan on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), through which the former will train prisons officers of southern Sudan to provide services to the vast region.

Kenyan Vice President Moody Awori and Minister for Internal Affairs for southern Sudan, Justice Paul Mayom Akec, signed the document in a ceremony in Nairobi.

The agreement will be operational for the next three years, within which the two countries will also undertake a prison personnel exchange program.

Speaking during the ceremony, Awori reaffirmed Kenya’s commitment towards providing the much-needed supports in building up human resources in southern Sudan.

He noted that the training will enable the officers to acquire the necessary competencies for the reconstruction of the prison system in southern Sudan.

Awori noted that the MOU was a culmination of tireless efforts arising from a series of meetings and consultations by representatives from the two sides and the UN mission in Sudan.

He said forty Sudanese officers and liaison officers have already accepted training in Kenya.

Justice Akec thanked the Kenya government for helping stabilize his country through technical assistance and cooperation in training and capacity building.

The minister assured that Kenyans were welcome to invest and do businesses in southern Sudan.

Akec said his government was impressed by Kenya ‘s prison facilities, adding that Kenya has also been instrumental in southern Sudan’s reconstruction process by training its human resources and in the provision of goods and services to the region.

Southern Sudan, which currently has 65 prisons, is trying to rehabilitate prison systems which were ruined by more than two decades of civil war.

(Xinhua)