Vice President Dr. James Wani Igga during a visit to the bereaved family of former Mayor of Juba Kalisto Ladu who lost his son to accident in October 2023. (-)

Vice President Dr James Wani Igga reveals for the first time that the government is behind the four-month detention of former Juba Mayor Kalisto Ladu, adding that he will soon appear in court.

Igga made the statement at an event in Juba on 10th August – becoming the first government official to publicly comment on the detention which has since left the former mayor’s family and the public wanting answers.

According to the vice president, senior political leaders including him and Central Equatoria governor,  were invited by a government body he did not identify, and made to see a two-hour video clip incriminating the detainee.

“About the former Mayor Kalisto Lado. He is a senior officer in the organized forces. We were invited. Five of us including me and Jadallah,” Igga said in a speech to an attentive crowd on Saturday.

“They told me; Wani, you and Jadallah are Bari, and people are looking for the former mayor Kalisto and asking who has imprisoned him.”

“We, the government, imprisoned him. If you want to believe the charges and evidence that we found against him, we will present this evidence to you in a two-hour video.”

Igga was speaking during a thanksgiving prayer for Gen. Alfred Lodu Gore, the former national Minister of Housing and Urban Planning, who returned to the country after receiving medical treatment abroad.

He alleged that the former mayor had committed unspecified crimes and would be brought to court soon, though he did not provide a specific timeline.

“We were told; to go and tell your Bari community that Kalisto is in the government’s possession because he committed a crime and he will be taken to court. As is well known, anyone who commits a crime is taken to court, and this is exactly what happened,” the vice president said.

At the same event, the Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Church in Juba, Bishop Santo Laku urged politicians to refrain from interfering in the affairs of the Bari community, particularly when it comes to land issues.

He highlighted that Kalisto was arrested for speaking out against land grabbing at a recent Bari community event.

The outspoken Bishop Santo emphasized that individuals should not be detained for voicing concerns about community issues.

He expressed hope that Kalisto was not killed and stated that if Calisto were to die, he, Bishop Santo, would be prepared to face the same fate.

On March 30, 2024, plain-clothed individuals driving numberless black vehicles seized Kalisto at around 11:45 PM as he was about to enter his home in the Kuwait residential area, opposite Midan Rainbow, according to his wife.

The South Sudan National Police Service (SSNPS) said it was unaware of the whereabouts of the official, while the Internal Security Bureau of the National Security Service (NSS) refused to comment on the incident.

Amnesty International said it received credible information that Kalisto had been followed at least twice within four days by uniformed officers before his kidnapping.

The rights group called the South Sudan government to disclose his whereabouts, raising concerns about his health and risks of torture, other ill-treatment or even death in custody.

His wife, Ann Grace said she had been in dilemma and no longer knew what to tell her children, having been lying to them that their father travelled to Kenya.

One month after the incident, the East African Court of Justice notified the South Sudan government in writing about a lawsuit regarding the arbitrary detention of Mr Kalisto, within 45 days.

Pan African Law Chamber, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the complainant and Kalisto’s wife Ann Grace Juan, said the arrest of the former mayor violated the law of the country and the region.

The South Sudan government confirmed receiving a notification from the regional tribunal requesting the Ministry of Justice to respond to a lawsuit over the “illegal detention” of Kalisto Lado.