Central Equatoria State Governor Emmanuel Adil Anthony on Friday clarified that he has not received any summons concerning a court order seeking his appearance in court in a personal capacity over the eviction of a former constitutional post holder.
Earlier this month, the former minister of infrastructure in the now defunct Jubek State, Francis Soka Robano, said he filed a lawsuit against the governor after he was forcefully evicted from a state-owned house despite having an assignment with the national government.
The Central Equatoria State government in June ordered the immediate eviction of 27 former constitutional post-holders from the state-owned houses.
Soka’s lawyer, Stephen Martin Nyichar, said they filed a case in the Juba County Court under civil case number 737/2022 before Justice David Moses, which the first hearing was set for December 1, but could not proceed because Governor Adil or his representatives were not present in court.
Speaking at a press conference in Juba on Thursday, Governor Adil said he had not received any court summons, adding that the eviction is a legal exercise by the government after a politician loses his position.
“I have not received any official case against me; although I heard through the media, it is hard if you go by that information I got from the media. Unfortunately, somebody who has been a minister does not know the manner in which the government operates,” Adil said.
“First of all, eviction is a legal requirement. It is also within the laws of our country for that particular matter that gentleman, you know if you are given a government responsibility, you are supposed to forfeit any government rights after three months of your service,” he added.
The senior state official said the decision to evict former government officials was taken by the state council of ministers. “So I heard that he claimed for damages. Eviction is not the decision of the governor. I am the head of the government. For this particular case, the Council of Ministers is the supreme organ of the government of the state that resolved to evict those who defied forfeiting government houses,” he said.
“All of them were notified, and I don’t know what happened to that particular minister, so if it is the government we once served, we will respond as a government, not as an individual. If you want to sue me as an individual, come to my house and treat me as an individual, that is the government decision,” he concluded.