By Staff Writer
Bilinyang Boma community in Mangalla Payam, Central Equatoria State, has added their voice to call for immediate release of detained, former Mayor of Juba City, Kalisto Lado Faustino.
In a press statement seen by No. 1 Citizen Daily Newspaper, the community where Kalsito hails, expressed concern about his health condition.
Meanwhile, reasons and circumstances surrounding Kalisto’s arrest and detention remain a mystery.
On March 30, 2024, at around 11:30 p.m., former Mayor Kalisto Lado was arrested near his home by alleged National Security Services [NSS] men, and it’s been a week now, and his whereabouts have not been disclosed by authorities.
“The leadership and entire youth of Bilinyamg Boma would like to strongly call for the immediate release of Mr. Kalisto Lado and that he should be handed over to a competent court of law if he committed any crime,” Chairperson, Bilinyang Youth Association, Víctor Pitia, echoed in a press statement.
“We all know that Mr. Kalisto has been exercising his constitutional rights as a citizen to speak up openly against land grabbing and internal invasion not only in his own village of Bilinyang but in all the Bari land as well as Equatoria land and South Sudan at large,” he added.
Pitia mourned that the leadership and entire youth of Bilinyang Boma learned with dismay about the unlawful arrest, intimidation, humiliation, and detention of Kalisto.
The youth leader clarified that outspoken Kalisto was educating the public on land policy and, most importantly, the procedures for acquiring land as enshrined in the Land Act 2009 of South Sudan.
He reveals that there are continued land-grabbing activities happening in Bilinyang Boma, including all the Bomas of Mongalla Payam, Gondokoro, and Jebel Lado.
The community further demanded the relief of Central Equatoria State Governor, Emmanuel Adil, from his post, saying he has failed to resolve the continuous land-grabbing issue.
“We are also calling for the immediate removal of Emmanuel Adil Anthony from the position of governor since he has failed to curb the insecurity in the state and continues to condone land-grabbing activities in Juba and other countries in Central Equatoria State,” Pitia echoed.
The Bilinyang community also supported and endorsed the Bari Community’s recent press statement dated April 3, 2024, in which it reiterated its stand for the relocation of the provisional capital city from Juba to Ramciel, as its presence here has become a curse rather than a perceived blessing for the Bari people.