The new police commissioner of Lakes State has launched a 30 million South Sudanese pound renovation programme for police facilities across the state, using his own funds to overhaul dilapidated headquarters and county stations, officials said.
The renovation drive at the state police headquarters in Rumbek began on Wednesday, with plans to extend to all eight counties in the state, according to police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Elijah Mabor Makuac.
Police Commissioner Isaac Mayuom Gop, who was recently assigned to Rumbek, initiated the programme as one of his first priorities after finding the headquarters in poor condition, including bat infestations that forced the evacuation of his own office, Makuac told Radio Tamazuj on Thursday.
“The police state headquarters is renovated and it is looking very nice and not like before. The same thing is applied in Rumbek central police station,” Makuac said. He added that the commissioner had ordered station commanders across the state to undertake similar renovations, noting that facilities had been neglected under previous administrations for years.
Makuac said the police commissioner financed the work from his personal resources after contractors were engaged. “When he came he saw the shape of the police headquarters was not alright and he decided to offer his own money,” the spokesperson said.
He said renovation work had also begun in Rumbek East county, though progress has been slowed by a shortage of funds.
The police commissioner has called on development partners and non-governmental organisations to support further improvements, as resources from his own pocket are insufficient to complete all planned renovations, Makuac said. “Nobody has shown up to support us in the renovation programme,” he said.
South Sudan’s police service faces chronic funding constraints, with infrastructure and equipment shortages among the challenges that have hampered its operations since the country’s independence.
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