Kiir forms committee to evict ex-government officials from state houses

JUBA – South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit has formed a ministerial committee to identify government houses that are being occupied by former constitutional post holders so as to evict them to give room for members of the transitional government of national unity.

This directive comes after a presentation by South Sudan’s minister of Cabinet Affairs Martin Elia Lomuro regarding shortage of accommodation for the members of the unity government.

According to Dr. Martin Elia, there are at least 66 government houses in Juba under occupation by former government officials.

Most of these houses, he says are being occupied by former government employees including advisers, ministers, non-executive officers and senior military generals.

Lomuro stated that, a decision has been reached to study the details of the structures and those living in.

“Some of these houses are being occupied by former advisers, former ministers, non-executive officers, military officers, police officers and even staff from various institutions including from the state”, Dr. Lomuro told the press after the council meeting on Friday.

He added that, the exercise is intended to have those structures occupied by rightful individuals.

Those who will not be in agreement of the government decision, Elia says will be forcefully evacuated.

“So, that is the decision that has been adopted and we look forward to form the committee to go in details and finally submit to the cabinet in recommendation for peaceful vacation or forceful evacuation”.

According to media reports, some government officials have been sheltering in hotels due to inadequate accommodation facilities in the country.

Early this year, hotel and apartment owners in Juba evicted hundreds of government and political party officials who did not pay their bills since 2018.

This also led to some hotels shut down electricity and water supply to force the officials to leave.

In May last year, the African Union called on the government and opposition officials to stop spending a lot of money on hotel accommodations.

South Sudan government has been reportedly spending a lot of money paying hotel bills for individual leaders, their bodyguards and relatives at the expense of delivering service to the general population.