The command structure of the police service in Northern Bahr el Ghazal has not been changed to accommodate the division of the state into three successor states of Aweil East, Aweil and Lol states, according to a top commander.
South Sudan’s National Police Service falls under the national interior ministry in Juba and previously divided its sector commands according to the existing state boundaries.
According to the constitution, South Sudan has ten states, but President Salva Kiir has decreed the division of these states into 28 parts, each with its own appointed governor and appointed state legislature.
National security services operating according to the old administrative boundaries have yet to catch up. In an interview with Radio Tamazuj, Police Major-General Mareng Deng said that he continues to have authority over all parts of the former Northern Bahr el Ghazal State, pending appointment of separate police commissioners in the three new states.
“Three police commissioners for the three states will be appointed soon but now I am in charge of these three states as the police commissioner for Northern Bahr el Ghazal State until I hand over the authority to those who will be appointed, then I see where to be,” he said.
However, Maj-Gen. Mareng was vague about whether he holds authority over all police within the territory of ‘Lol State’ – which includes one county of the former Western Bahr el Ghazal State – or only over those parts of Lol State that belonged to Northern Bahr el Ghazal.
He did not answer directly the question whether he is presently responsible for police in Raja County or not, saying, “The police of the county are remaining in their place.”
According to the Establishment Order, Northern Bahr el Ghazal State into three states, whereby two counties of Aweil West and Aweil North are combined with Raja County of former Western Bahr el Ghazal to form Lol State.
The National Alliance considers the Establishment Order to be illegal and the newly created state administrations to be constitutionally illegitimate. However, Salva Kiir says the 28 states are the demand of the people. He has vowed not to revoke his decrees creating the new states.
File photo: Police personnel at a training for the emergency call centre in Juba (UNDP South Sudan)