Government seeks ways to tackle gangsterism and create opportunities for youth

Author: Michael Daniel | Published: 30 minutes ago

Suspected gang members located in the Lologo residential area. (Photo: SSNPS).

The Ministry of the Interior will host a national conference with various partners to formulate a long-term strategy to tackle gang violence and create new opportunities for young people across the country.

The initiative involves the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Gender and Civil Society, together with UNICEF and the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

A key part of this effort would be a collaboration between the police chief and UNICEF’s head of child protection and juvenile justice.

The government partners have entered into an agreement to work together to address issues surrounding children involved in criminal activities.

This collaboration aims to prevent children from engaging in criminal behaviour, to protect their rights and to ensure that they receive the necessary support and rehabilitation.

Brendan Ross, UNICEF’s Chief of Child Protection, said this joint effort paves the way for a safer and more promising future for South Sudan’s youth.

“We look forward to working with the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Gender and Civil Society to address the issues of gang violence in South Sudan and UNICEF, together with UNMISS,” he said.

“Together with other partners, we are looking at the possibility of jointly organising a conference that will develop a long-term strategy so that we can begin to address gang violence and provide new opportunities for young people in South Sudan.”

Butrus Yal, head of the Women’s and Juvenile Justice Department, said one of the main points discussed during the meeting was the possible establishment of a mobile court.

The head of the women’s and juvenile justice department said the mobile court could travel to Rajaf to hear these cases.

“We discussed the issue of the children detained in the Rajaf cases, the children arrested in Rajaf, and we discussed how to deal with this,” Yal said.

“One of the issues we raised in the meeting is the possibility of forming a mobile court. So the mobile court can move to Rajaf to hear these cases, focusing on ways to address punishment.”

National police spokesman John Kassara Koang said the partners discussed informal mobile police units that investigate and prosecute related cases.

Kassara added that these discussions are part of broader efforts to address these critical issues in a collaborative and effective manner.

“There was actually an agreement on long-term planning and short-term planning, including the possibility of having a joint conference on gang violence and the other topic.”

“We also had a short informal conversation with the mobile police who are investigating and prosecuting the case.”

Since November 2023, the Inspector General of Police has been conducting a campaign against criminal gangs.

This operation led to the arrest of more than 300 people, including the girl held at the Rajaf Transformation Center.

In December 2023, the Central Equatoria State Legal Administration responded by setting up a joint commission to investigate the cases of those arrested.

The task of this committee is to ensure that legal procedures are followed and that the rights of detained persons are upheld when they are charged with involvement in criminal activities.