Economic crisis making Juba a dangerous crime haven – activist

JUBA – A South Sudan activist is saying that Juba, the capital of the world’s youngest country, is becoming more and more dangerously a crime haven over the ongoing economic crisis which has in recent weeks witnessed hike in prices of basic commodities.

In an exclusive interview with Sudans Post on Tuesday, activist Reech Malual, the chairperson of Coalition for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), said the rise in basic commodity prices is forcing many to resort to looting and robbery.

“I believe in Juba, there is a rise in crime level. We have a problem of economic crisis and this economic crisis makes people do more crimes, people want to loot and do a lot of things. So it makes people crazy and make crime rate rise,” he said.

The Advocate called on the law enforcement organs to beef up security patrols in hotspot areas such as Sherikat, a Juba suburb on the other site of the River Nile, which he said lack police unit.

“For example in Sherikat there is no single police station, and you can see that there is a gang rise in the area. They loots at any time and do anything because there is no present of the police,” he confirmed.

The CPIL activists stressed the need to extend security patrols to suburbs of Juba which include Gudele, Jebel Dinka and Referendum which are hotspot zones for crimes.

“You can see in Juba, police are only patrolling on the tarmac road. This is not where the crime happens. The crime happens deep in the areas such as Gudele and Jebel Dinka and Referendum,” he said.

Malual urged the government to empower the police to be able to fight crime in the country.