Theophilous Ochang
Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The mayor of Torit town Mustafa Albino Zakaria. [Photo: courtesy]
The authorities of Torit Municipal Council, Eastern Equatoria State, have given the illegal occupants of government land up to February 15, 2024, failure to which they will be forcefully evicted.
This came after the residents failed to implement a one-month ultimatum to vacate the area.
In an interview with The City Review on Wednesday, the Mayor of Torit municipal council, Mustafa Albino, said despite several orders issued to the occupants to vacate the land, they are still unwilling to quit.
“Unfortunately, there is no response from the occupants; they don’t show any kind of response as if they are defying the order of the government,” he said.
Albino said that despite several violations, the government remains committed to maintaining its citizens by not using force to vacate them.
However, he warned that if the residents fail to adhere to the February 15 deadline, force will be used to flush them out.
“Despite all that, we don’t want to use any cohesive force to evacuate our citizens; these are our citizens, and they are supposed to respect the order of the government because the government starts from the payam,” Albino stated.
“If they don’t respect the chief of the payam, that means they don’t even respect the president of the Republic; we use force for demolition.”
According to the mayor, some citizens are content even when they know they are staying in government structures.
“Some of them are content, though they know this is the government area and even some of them are staying in the structures that were built by the government. Some of these structures were built a long time ago and they know they are living in the wrong place,” Albino said.
This is not the first time the state government has issued such an order. Last year, the government launched an inspection of the state-owned lands in the areas of Hai police and the northern parts of Torit Town and ordered the evacuation of the land but the order was not implemented.
Source: The City Review South Sudan
For More News And Analysis About South-Sudan Follow Africa-Press
