A civil society activist who doubles as the Executive Director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) has appealed to the national and Central Equatoria State governments to hold perpetrators behind the sale of school lands to private investors in Juba City accountable.

Edmund Yakani appealed after Central Equatoria State Minister of Education Cirisio Zakariah Ladu came under fire for allegedly selling out school lands to investors, with the most recent being land belonging to Supiri Secondary School in Juba which was exposed by the National Minister of Education and Instruction Awut Deng.

Speaking to the press over the weekend, Yakani said selling off school lands to investors is a violation of the recent decision by the National Council of Ministers which ordered national and state ministers not to tamper with and or appropriate any land allocated for schools or health facilities and reclaim those that have been fraudulently sold off or leased to private developers.

“I would like to take this opportunity to strongly call upon the governor of Central Equatoria State and the national minister of general education and Instruction to handle the case of Supiri Secondary School seriously. The issue of selling the school’s land to three private companies violates the recent decision made by the council of ministers where state governments, local governments, and even the national government officials not to tamper with any land allocated to schools or health facilities,” he said.  “Now, we have seen the violation of that decision in Supiri Secondary School which was sold by the state ministry of education. This must stop and this should not be allowed to go unpunished. The people who are behind this act of tampering with the land of Supiri should be held responsible and we are watching the governor of Central Equatoria State and the national minister of general education to see if this case is immediately sorted out, otherwise, legal steps will be taken’’.

Meanwhile, in a video clip that has since gone viral on social media, Minister Deng reassured the public that legal actions will be taken against the Central Equatoria State education minister because he has disposed of several pieces of land belonging to schools around Juba.

She said the minister has sold land belonging to several schools in Juba which is unacceptable to her ministry.

“This has been going on against a resolution. We are taking legal action against the minister of general education in Central Equatoria State because this is becoming too much. Here are the documents he has been issuing out selling schools from one school to another,” she said. “Juba Commercial, Juba Day, Malakia, Gumbo and now Supiri have been sold. These are spaces for the education of children and education is the future of this country. It has no value to our minister of education in Central Equatoria State. So, a legal process will be taken against him because this is becoming too much and I do not know why he was given this responsibility as the minister of education in this state.”

Minister Deng added: “Selling a school land where children learn is a violation of their right to education and it is the right time for the government to take immediate action and bring the perpetrators to book before it is too late.”