Categories: General
      Date: Mar  9, 2010
     Title: South Sudan police assures impartiality to political parties 

Talking to the Press in Juba, Inspector General of the Southern Sudan Police Service (SSPS), Gen. Acuil Tito Madut, said police forces will maintain impartiality to any political parties in the forthcoming elections adding any act associated with biasness would not be tolerated.

Gen. Madut assured citizens that south Sudan police will serve them diligently in spite of the many challenges it faces. According to him, some of the challenges police forces face across the region and particularly Juba, include poor payment, inadequate facilities, inadequate budget, and poor training, among others.

He elaborated that a constable, for example gets 13 SDP a month as house allowance which is grossly inadequate especially in Juba and other major urban centers.

"We are trying to accommodate all these within its budgetary allocation but security is very expensive, especially in places coming out of war where security remains greater challenge all the time," he said.

However, the police general revealed that the government is in the process of establishing a police academy in Juba to facilitate better training for the members of the force, especially the former Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Army (SPLA) combatants who form three-quarters of the SSPS.

"The former SPLA combatants currently observed into police service need to be transformed from military mentality to a friendly police force capable of serving Southern Sudan with dignity and discipline." He also added that the force needs language training to facilitate migration from Arabic or English platform.

The Inspector General reportedly stated that security has improved and other law enforcement agencies in the region will sustain this recorded development.