Ex-Juba Mayor Kalisto says he ‘wanted to change Juba’

JUBA – The sacked Mayor of South Sudan’s capital Juba said he ambitioned to change and reorganise the city and denied reports about his arrest.

On November 18, Central Equatoria State Governor Emmanuel Adil Anthony relieved the Juba mayor of his position without motivation for his decision.

Kalisto Ladu told the Sudan Tribune he refused calls by people who wanted to go out and protest his removal, saying he did not want his sacking to be a source of political instability and to cause insecurity and disunity among the people in Juba.

Ladu further dismissed rumour about his detention saying “I had never been arrested.”

Appointed in March 2021, Ladu has been credited for having improved Juba city infrastructures and demolishing old buildings to be replaced by new ones.

Ladu’s removal from office caused protests on social media and virtual campaigns to reinstate him.

Intellectuals of the central Equatoria State and residents of Juba town, including legislators and former government officials, rejected the decision and petitioned President Salva Kiir to force Governor Emmanuel Adil Anthony to reverse his decision.

The former mayor welcomed the appointment of his friend Michael Lado Thomas Allah-Jabu as the new mayor and expressed hope that his successor would continue his plans to “change the face of the city” as he said.

He said he had taken bold and painful decisions to organize the capital but some people did not appreciate his plans to reorganize the city.

“People think I was destroying their properties. They think I  was interfering with their lives,” he said before adding “I created jobs for them and organized the city.”