By Bida Elly David
Director General for the Directorate of Civil Registry Nationality, Passport, and Immigration (DCRNPI) has promised to fix all the irregularities in the institution to enable systematic and smooth operation.
Maj. Gen. Simon Majur Pabek made his pledge during his welcoming ceremony held at the immigration office on Thursday.
Speaking at the event, the new director stated a series of challenges the institution has faced since he was the director general for administration and finance.
He noted that there has not been timely processing of nationality and passport IDs for South Sudanese who are eager to travel for important missions.
He said the institution has severally run short of passport booklets, with serious logistical and procurement difficulties arising from unknown angles.
Pabek mentioned indiscipline cases among officers and a lack of respect as some of the factors hindering progress at the institution.
He assured the officers of the importance of a sustainable working environment and urged cooperation among them.
“As you know, this institution is facing issues to do with booklet ID and issues to do with some other hardware and software within ICT,” he stated. “Every day we can see and hear everyone making comments about the passports and nationality identification cards.”
The Director General mentioned staff welfare, both feeding and medical insurance, as significant challenges that never boosted morale at the immigration and department, saying that he must fix them.
“We have issues to do with the welfare of our officers and MCOS and permanent sickness within this institution, such as hepatitis,” he said.
The DG underscored that the institution buried many staff due to a lack of medical attention rendered by the institution.
“We lost a lot of our brothers and sisters in this institution due to that particular sickness. And we need to have a very clear idea of how to address it again, and this will happen if we have cooperation,” he stated.
“If we don’t cooperate within institutions here, that means even our IGP will not support us again,” he continued.
Pabek further promised to impose the law as a mechanism to deal with indiscipline officers within the institution.
“The more we respect the law, the more we will come together. And if we are not respecting our act and our regulation, that means we are running behind,” he echoed.
Meanwhile, Gen. Atem Marol Biar, the inspector general of police, advised DG Simon Majur Mabek to turn deaf eyes to officers engaged in tribal matters.
“Don’t listen to them; you must be very careful in balancing foreign deployments, and this is the only way to defeat them,” he said.
Atem noted that he suffered several temptations as many officers turned to tribal compromise to undertake foreign training, but he swept them off.
“I gave deployment to a person who will do the same thing he is assigned in order to bring credit to the country. I can’t put somebody from my own tribe only to eat,” he said.
Gen. Atem noted that he was the only DG who never sent officers for foreign deployment due to uncertainties.
The IGP also urged the new Director of Immigration to fight for funding, saying there are a lot of things that the institution requires to run well.
He also directed him to desist from listening to internal gossip that would break the institution apart, leading to its downfall.
Meanwhile, Charles Bojja, the acting director general for the directorate of civil registry nationality and passports, urged Pabek to practice tolerance in his leadership, as he will sometimes face it rough from his subordinates.
“It is a great responsibility with challenges, and as a result, you will have to deliver both the skills of being a leader and a manager,” he advised.
Charles noted that using two pillars will enable him to use both approaches in taking decisions of whatever kind.
He described the immigration department as the most complicated one from the past, as many things were believed not to have gone right.
Bojja reiterated that the institution is a complex entity and is one of the top institutions that hold the sovereignty of South Sudan.
“Anybody coming to the Republic of South Sudan at whatever checkpoint, the first thing is to get these immigration officers sitting in their offices representing the country’s sovereignty,” he stated.