By Jenifer James
The Chairperson for election security, Maj. Gen. Sadik Ismail Sidigi, announced that the police will train 50,000 officers to ensure the safety of citizens before, during, and after the elections.
The announcement came during the handover of a conference facility at the police headquarters in Juba on Thursday.
Addressing the gathering, the chairperson for election security, Maj. Gen. Sadik Ismail Sidigi said, the police have come out with clear work plans and a training manual for the police ahead of the election.
“The first thing we did is we came out with a work plan, we went as far as drafting training manual, which is there. We divided the training manual into three, pre, during the election, and after the election. So we had all the budget for this one, including the mobility and as well as communication device, as well as anything concerning the forces which we are going to train, which we estimate to be 50,000 men and women to protect the election.’’ Sadik said.
Sadik emphasised that the goal is to train an estimated 50,000 police officers, both men and women, who will be deployed to ensure security throughout the election process and police are 100% ready.
“I want to assure everyone who is here, for us, the National Police Service, we are ready and 100% ready for election. For us, we are impartial. In our pre-election training manual, we are training people that will protect all the parties.’’
Last year, the government of South Sudan postponed the elections originally scheduled for December 2024, delaying them by two years. The decision was made due to the necessity of completing critical processes, including conducting a national census, drafting a permanent constitution, and registering political parties to ensure a fair and inclusive election.