The government’s readiness to address criminal activity in the larger Kapoeta area has been declared by authorities in the Kapoeta Municipal Council, provided that the required united forces be deployed in the area.
Mayor Lokuda Elia Lonyia informed the radio community in an exclusive interview with Singaita FM that the administration is prepared to handle illegal activity involving kidnapping.
Now, as the government takes action to guarantee that peace and order prevail, Lokuda advises lawbreakers to refrain from committing heinous crimes.
“We want to see Eastern Equatoria and Greater Kapoeta as a place of peace and love. This act of child abduction is outdated, we encourage our people to disseminate peace and stop such barbaric behavior of abducting people’s children,” Lokuda Elia Lonyia told Singaita 88.3 FM.
“The government is ready to deal with such criminalities head-on. We have a force that has graduated from their training and is now in Kapoeta, and these forces are going to tackle some of the challenges that have been affecting us-now that we are ready, we will deal with all criminals and ensure that law and order prevail,” he stated.
Mayor Lokuda did not reveal how many troops were stationed in Kapoeta town.
But he asserts that sufficient power has been given to his authority, which he believes will address some insecurity, persistent problems, and social wrongdoing.
Leaders in the community applaud the news development and see it as a step toward transforming Eastern Equatoria into a peaceful center of the nation.
According to Kapoeta Municipal Council Chief of Hai Tarawa, Angelo Lotyam, the soldiers need to be sufficiently skilled to safeguard the populace.
He goes on to say that having forces in the area will enhance security and interpersonal relationships.
“For me as a chief, it is good news; soldiers who protect people are good, but they should be soldiers who know the law, not just soldiers who are just collected and untrained; they will come and mistreat people; it will not be good. Also, if soldiers are in the community, the relationships between the people will be okay. Security is very important in the community. If there is no security in the community, people will mess up, so order is a very important thing, “Angelo added.
Last week, the Eastern Equatoria state government received over six hundred forces as part of the deployment of necessary unified forces across the country.
The September 2018 peace deal on the resolution of conflict in the Republic of South Sudan mandated the revitalized government of national unity to train, graduate, and deploy 83,000 forces in the country as stipulated in Chapter 2 of the agreement.
So far, over 50,000 NUF forces have been graduated, according to the Joint Defense Board (JDB).
