S. Sudan interior minister admits police commit crimes in Juba

December 11, 2012 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s minister of interior, Alison Manana Magaya, has admitted that “elements” in the nation’s security agency are involved in crimes in the capital, Juba.

Magaya made the remarks live on the radio in Juba on Tuesday, a week after a leading political commentator, Isaiah Ding Abraham Chan Awuol, was murdered. No arrests have yet been made; the government says investigations are underway.

“There are some elements within the police and other organised forces who commit crimes but we always take serious measures against them,” Magaya said on the UN’s radio Miraya.

Magaya said one person has been arrested in connection with the recent killing of Eritreans in Juba, but made no remarks on how investigations into Awuol’s death are progressing.

Magaya blamed inexperienced police – many of whom are former militia members, he said, and lack knowledge on how to trace criminals.

Listeners called-in during the show and expressed disappointment over what they say is the government’s failure to protect its citizens and the deadly crackdown on protesters in northern town of Wau over the weekend, in which 10 people were killed.

Magaya also accused an unspecified group of people for conniving with criminals. He said bank workers are being monitored because people withdrawing money have been targeted, kidnapped and sometimes killed in Juba.

(ST)