A section of Police Brigadiers who participated in a five-week leadership management training in Juba. [Gurtong| Waakhe Simon Wudu]
By Waakhe Simon Wudu
JUBA, 19 August 2012 [Gurtong] - The training which involved 69 police brigadiers and one general was organized by the South Sudan Police Service (SSPS) in partnership with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
The South Sudan Inspector General of Police (IGP) said the course was aimed at intensifying the policy of the Interior Ministry of upgrading the police into a professional force.
Under the theme “Command, Leadership And Management,” the trainees were given lectures on the country’s interim constitution, international laws, police ethics and code of criminal procedures.
He said the officers will undergo another three months training course in a move aimed at getting rid of police misconduct in the country.
He further pointed out that the training course is on going process and has started with the high ranking officers to descend accordingly.
The Interior Minister Alison Manani described the course as a break through into the implementation of the Ministry’s Action Plan of capacitating the police force in the country.
“This graduation is a mile stone to the professionalism of the police in South Sudan,” he said.
Manani said observation of strict ethics of police conduct by the forces themselves is still a long way to go.
He called on UNMISS and the other partners to cooperate in a bid to intensify efforts on capacity building.
Manani said that the police force needs consistent training as the challenge still remains at hand.
Most of the police were incorporated from the former Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) rebels who had knowledge in the army but not policing.
The UNMISS Special Envoy Hilde F. Johnson reiterated the commitment to continuously support capacity building of the police in the country.
She said the mission is ready to provide support for training of at least five hundred more senior police officers.