Editorial, Gadgets

Editorial

The brazen attack on Sunday of Maj. Gen. Stephen Warikozi a decorated scholar and Director for Research and Transformation in South Sudan’s National Police Service is more than a troubling incident.

It is a pervasive signal that something is fundamentally amiss regarding public safety in Juba and South Sudan at larger.

It would be easy for fear to take hold in the public and understandably so. If a senior law enforcement figure with both credentials and experience can be targeted, what hope is there for ordinary citizens? That fear is real and justified but despondency must not dictate our response.

The fact that no arrests have been made yet should not be seen as inaction but as discipline. It is easy to round up suspects and parade them before the cameras, but it is much harder in the long run to build a case that can stand in court should such arrests be made without clear evidence. If the South Sudan National Police Service is indeed committed to this principle, it should be commended.

This attack is not an isolated oddity. It highlights broader gaps in intelligence, early warning systems and the coordination of security forces. It also reinforces the need for community policing models where residents are not just passive observers but active partners in safeguarding their neighborhoods.

What is missing and painfully so is minimal public engagement on attacks like this which leaves space for fear and conspiracy. Citizens are owed regular updates, not only to rebuild public trust but also to show that justice is actively being pursued.

Maj. Gen. Warikozi is not just a police officer. He represents an ideal of professionalism that South Sudan desperately needs in its institutions. An attack on him is not just an attack on the individual; it is a symbolic strike against the values of order, education and national service but the real tragedy would be letting that symbolism fade without action.

The path forward now must include justice and reforms in the police service. Let this incident reignite efforts to invest in forensic investigation, improved urban surveillance and re-rebuild public-police trust.

The criminals behind this cowardly act will, in time, be found. But what will matter more is whether the state uses this moment to improve how it protects everyone not just its generals

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