The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure in South Sudan’s Wau State has asked all former employees who are occupying government houses to vacate them immediately.

Joseph Wol Wol, the chairman of the committee formed by the ministry to handle the matter, said they have started displacing former government officials who are occupying houses in Wau town.

“We have started to free some of the government houses in Hai Muzafin. We talk to families before moving things out of houses and in most of the houses we passed through, their husbands are not around, only women,” he said.

“But the security forces did their best in implementing the order and for those who fail to comply with the order, we will take their things to government stores at the state ministry,” he added.

Wol pointed out that the process of moving out former officials’ families would continue in the state. A total of 19 houses, Wol said, have so far been vacated.

“We want to tell citizens that we don’t have any problem. We are just implementing the order that came from the council of ministers and the security committee that all families living in government houses should leave because husbands are not present in most houses,” he said.

Wol blamed most families for ignoring a 2017 order from the council of ministers requesting them to vacate houses they illegally occupied.