08/07/2025
Juba widow’s nightmare in battle with powerful family over land
July 7, 2025 JUBA
When General James Tut Thuch died in March 2009, before South Sudan’s independence, he left what he believed was a secure inheritance for his young family his three wives and children.
A liberation hero from the SPLA’s Jamus Battalion, Thuch had purchased and developed prime land in Juba’s Nyakuron South neighborhood before his illness caused by bullet wounds sustained during the civil war led to his death. The land is located near the South Sudan Revenue Authority offices along Kajo-Keji Road.
But instead of prosperity, the family has now lost the legacy and prosperity left for them by their father, with the land turning into a source of misery.
Nyaluak G*i, one of the widows, and her children have been thrown out of their home after it was razed to the ground when a large force came and chased them away, claiming that the land on which their home was built does not belong to them. The force came in the name of a powerful family—the wife of Vice President Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel, Yar Manyuon Deng—who claims rightful ownership of the land.
Benjamin Bol Mel is a powerful politician who has risen to frontline politics, serving as Vice President since February, and is also a renowned businessman.
A Home Demolished
Land registry documents reviewed by Radio Tamazuj confirm the plot classified as first-class land was registered under Thuch’s name on February 20, 2012. Yet in late June, a joint security force arrived in seven armored vehicles, briefly arrested Nyaluak, and leveled her house.
“They said, ‘This is not your home; this is the wife of Bol Mel’s land. Remove your things we’re demolishing now,’” Nyaluak recounted. “I was taken to prison without any charge. My children were thrown out, and my house was destroyed.”
Nyaluak said she had been living in her home in Nyakuron South since 2006, while the wife of Bol Mel, Yar Manyuon Deng, had a land dispute with her neighbor but ended up fencing her compound and throwing her out despite a court ruling in her favor.
“I have been following the case since 2021 in court against the wife of Bol Mel, Yar. Yar Manyuon had a land dispute with someone called Deng Wuor, who is my neighbor. They went to court, and Yar won the land dispute. She then brought soldiers, and they demolished Deng Wuor’s home,” she narrated.
“When they finished with Deng Wuor, they came to my home. I questioned them, saying the land case with Deng Wuor was different. If you have taken Deng Wuor’s home, why come again to take mine? She said, ‘I am going to take all this place.’ This happened in 2021,” she said.
“But on the evening of Thursday, June 26, at around 3 pm, they came with soldiers from the joint operation in seven Toyota Land Cruisers. When I questioned them, they said, ‘No, this is not your home; this is the home of the wife of Bol Mel. Remove all your properties, and we are demolishing this home now.’ When I tried to question them, I was immediately arrested and taken to prison without any case. My kids were removed from the house, and my house was demolished. As I speak right now, my properties are all outside,” she said.
“On Friday, June 27, in the morning, I went to court with the land documents, and they distanced themselves from the matter, saying they were not aware of any eviction and that it was done illegally. I was advised to open a case. Since my home was demolished, I was left outside with my children. I want the court to help me reclaim my land and home. This person is grabbing my land forcefully because she has the backing of the forces, and her husband is alive while mine is dead,” she lamented.
