Michael Allah-Jabu, the Mayor of Juba City - credit | Lou Nelson/Eye Radio | Nov. 29, 2021

A member of the Council of State has called on the government to support plans by Juba City Mayor to rename some residential areas.

Over the week, Mayor Michael Ladu Allah-Jabu told Eye Radio that he intends to change the designation of areas linked to past-atrocities committed against locals by successive Khartoum regimes.

He mentioned places like Rujal-Mafi, Libas-Mafi and Atlabara, among others.

The matter is to be tabled before the Juba City Legislative Council for approval.

In support of the Mayor’s move he said the plan should extend to areas beyond the Juba City Council jurisdiction.

“Mayor cannot name places beyond Ezentus, New Side, and New Dawn. He cannot name places beyond Doha up to Gudele-Two, he cannot name places beyond Jebel market, not even beyond Juba Bridge,” Honerable Oyeno Logudu warned.

However, he said “it’s a very good time that the responsibility should not be left to mayor to solve it alone, the state government should also join mayor in renaming some of the residential areas which are beyond the city.”

Some of the residential areas in Juba were named in 1965 during political and security unrests in Juba.
Most of the names were used to describe the status of South Sudanese under the tyranny of the Sudanese government.