South Sudanese President Kiir accuses organized forces for night robberies

By Deng Machol

Juba - South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has categorically accused some members of his organized forces for carrying out night robberies and killings in Juba.

The President said several reports of crimes committed in Juba and other parts of the country have been attributed to the police and other members of the regular forces.

He noted that those suspected of killing the pastor and his wife in Gudele estate over the weekend have been arrested, and have been found to be members of the organized forces.

On Saturday, last week, armed men killed a young man [pastor] and his wife in their home in the early hours of the morning.

“Few days ago when the pastor was killed with his wife and another wounded….the criminals who did this are men of the security forces…it is shame to you who are custodian of the law if you are seen by the civil population that it is you who are supposed to protect them but turned against them to kill and rob…then people [civilians] can decide to run away and live as refugees if they cannot be protected by their own security agents,” President Kiir said.

In his keynote address, President Kiir focused on the transforming the organized forces, reduces crimes and clear out ghost-names from the pay-roll.

President Salva Kiir holds South Sudanese officers responsible for rising crime rates across the country.

He said he is aware that the ghost-names come from the senior officers and that they are the one responsible for the crimes in the town because their pay is not what they are getting now.

 “I direct you to clear the ghost names from your pay-roll. If you don’t do it and you are the head of the unit, you will be held accountable for those crimes,” President further said.

President Kiir said there is huge number of officers deployed to protect the civil population in Juba, but failed to do their duties as people are still being killed.

“People are still being killed in their houses at night, but where do these criminals come from? They are by daytime your soldiers and at night, they are criminals,” said Kiir, while addressing the 7th Police Leadership Conference in Juba on Thursday.

Kiir said members of the organized forces are somehow viewed as enemy of the people rather than the protector.

“You must provide protection to all the civilians whether foreigners or the indigenous people. Win their confidence so that you have relationship,” he stressed.

President Kiir demanded that the police study the constitution, the police act and the Agreement on Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan to understand what is required of them.

According the head of state, these are the reasons why the country’s economy is sinking every day because the government is spending more than what is necessary.

Due to the long conflict, which resulted to the deteriorating economic in South Sudan, the crime rate in Juba particularly is worrying as criminals are active and all the fingers are being pointed on the security forces.

South Sudan police conference is being held after every five years, therefore, this was convened as a platform for police to discuss vital issues of policing in the country in order to address challenges facing the policemen/women and to enhance formulate policies to develop strategy to boost the performance of the country’s police.