The South Sudan Election Security Committee has unveiled plans to train 50,000 police officers to boost security during the 2026 General Election.
South Sudan is expected to hold its first-ever General Election in December 2026 since independence in 2011. The elections have already been postponed several times due to a lack of proper preparedness and a shortfall in funds.
Committee chief Maj. Gen. Sadik Ismael Sadigi revealed this during the handover ceremony of office space by the United Nations Integrated Electoral Assistance Team (UN IEAT) in Juba on Thursday.
Sadigi said all arrangements had been put in place, including the drafting of the total budget.
“The first thing we did was come up with a plan. We even went as far as drafting the training manual, which is divided into pre-election, during-election, and post-election phases,” Sadigi said.
He said the only challenge his committee might face is how to finance the training, for which he appealed to the Ministry of Finance and Planning for support.
“Our program is in place, and it is good that the National Election Committee is here. The only challenge is how to finance the program,” he stressed.
The security committee, he disclosed, was also looking forward to reviewing the budget to align with the current economic situation.
His sentiments were echoed by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Gen. Abraham Manyuat.
Manyuat said the National Police Service would hand over the forces from other groups, such as the SPLM-IO, to the poll commission so that all forces could be absorbed into the election force and trained together.
The IGP said the training would also ensure that, when the police monitor the elections, they would act as a unified force alongside their colleagues from other organized forces.
“Everybody who is in the field now has been instructed to join the police. We have already submitted a draft budget to the Ministry of Finance to ensure they receive a salary like any other police officer,” he stressed.