President Kiir salutes Rwanda, South Sudan Police Forces ties

IGP Gasana (L) and Gen. Pieng Deng address the media at Juba State House after meeting President Kiir. The New Times/ Courtesy.

South Sudan President Salva Kiir has commended the support rendered by Rwanda National Police (RNP) in building the capacity of the South Sudan National Police Services.

President Kiir said this last week at the State House in Juba, where he hosted Rwanda’s Inspector-General of Police, Emmanuel K. Gasana.

IGP Gasana was in South Sudan for a two-day visit on the invitation of his counterpart, Gen. Pieng Deng Kuol, to further strengthen ties between the two forces following the signing of cooperation agreement in May last year.

President Kiir pledged full support to the partnership for the good of communities in the two sister countries.

The agreement binds the two forces in combating cross-border crimes and capacity, building, especially in training that focuses mainly on road safety, basic and advanced investigation, basic intelligence, IT and communication skills, public order management, among others.

In a statement, a copy of which this paper has seen, Lt. Gen. Salva Mathok, South Sudan deputy minister of interior, stressed that the cooperation is paramount in professionalising their Force, which is mainly composed of former soldiers and militia groups.

“Training is the backbone of Police professionalism,” Gen. Mathok said.

South Sudan Police chief Gen. Deng said the cooperation between the two Police Forces has proved a note in building the capacity of his Force.

Worth emulating

Gen. Deng said his force still faces some challenges such as lack of skilled personnel to deal with emerging threats. He said Rwanda’s success in reconciliation, poverty eradication and peacekeeping is a lesson to many.

IGP Gasana, who said the two countries have had bad history, applauded the level of development in South Sudan and pledged the RNP support and exchange of best practices to build a professional force.

“It is about time we work together to help each other in fighting emerging crimes that affect our countries,” Gasana said.

Development, IGP Gasana said, comes with sophisticated security threats which require joint efforts to challenge wrong-doers.

“We need to join forces with regional partners to improve policing architecture. There are many emerging crimes that require us to join hands to pursue collective security in ideas, capacities, and skills in order to be ready for this challenging situation,” Gasana added.

He also said the RNP will organise a special training programme for Police senior leadership.

Gasana also paid a courtesy call on the Deputy Police Commissioner of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Johannah Madikotsi Nkomo, and met with the Rwandan police peacekeepers serving under UNMISS.

He told the peacekeepers not to deviate from their mission and urged them to learn from other peacekeepers so to share skills when they return home.