Hundreds of South Sudanese officials have lived in luxurious establishments for years during failed negotiations
Hundreds of politicians and officials are being kicked out of hotels in South Sudan after running up massive bills while more than half of the countryโs population depends on humanitarian aid
Up to 300 representativesย who haveย โlived in luxuryโ in Juba duringย peace talks are being ejected after โwarnings to the government about mounting debtsโ totalling around $50m (ยฃ36.4m)ย โwent ignoredโ, reportsย The Times.ย
Kot Maker, manager of the capitalโs luxurious Royal Palace Hotel, told the paper how he had shut off power and water in a bid to force out guests who had lived there for three years without settling their accounts.
Maker said:ย โWe have no gun. We have to pursue them, we have to talk to them politely, we have toย convince them to leave peacefully, because if they refuse we have to call the police in.โ
The ejected guests see things very differently. One described the hotel managersโ behaviour as โinhumaneโ,ย tellingย Voice of America: โWe feel so bad that we have been thrown out at the end and nobody is taking care of us from now on.โ
The row comes less than two months after humanitarian groups warned that South Sudan was facingย a โcatastrophicโ conflict-fuelled famine. In aย joint statement, UN agenciesย including the World Food Programmeย said thatย 6.5 million people were facing severe food insecurity, with that total projected to increase toย 7.24 million by July โ equivalent to more than 60% of the population.
As The Times reports, โSouth Sudanโs 11 million people have barely known peace since the country won independence from Sudan a decade agoโ.
Corruption and mismanagement have triggered an economic crisis in the oil-rich state, whileย aย five-year battle for powerย has caused about 400,000 deaths and displaced millions.ย
Members of the ruling party, a โstring of opposition groupsโ and army generals have been โwranglingโ at peace talks in Juba for years in a bid to find a resolution, The Australian says.
Although President Salva Kiir Mayardit and Riek Machar, his former deputy-turned-bitter enemy, have reached a dozen peace agreements, none has delivered a permanent end to the fighting.
