The governor of Central Equatoria state on Friday evening, sacked the acting mayor of South Sudan’s capital city, Juba, after he was caught on camera slapping a member of the public.
Emmanuel Khamis Richard had refused to resign despite mounting pressure from fellow politicians since footage of him appearing to assault a female street vendor went viral a week ago.
The dismissal of the Mayor was announced by the governor of Central Equatoria state after parliamentarians had sent him a letter unanimously calling for the mayor’s sack.
Khamis Richard hasn’t admitted or denied slapping the woman, but he had been summoned to appear before councillors in Juba to answer for his actions before his sack was issued. He, however, didn’t show up and instead sought a two-week respite.
No replacement has been announced yet, but the head of Juba city council, Martin Simon Wani has been asked to take charge of the general activities of the municipality for the time being.