Illegal occupants of sports playgrounds ordered to vacate
The government has ordered individuals illegally occupying football playgrounds in Juba to leave before action is taken against them.
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Dr Albino Bol Dhieu, said recovering all the sports facilities is in the ministry’s plans for 2022 /2023.
“We are going to reclaim all the sports playgrounds that have been grabbed by government officials. We are going to get back, whether you are government officials, army generals, or civilians.
“Even if you build a concrete house on it, as long as it is a football field, it must be reclaimed, and we are going to implement the presidential order on that,’’ he vowed.
Dr Albino issued the warning during the opening ceremony of the 2021/2022 South Sudan Cup edition on Thursday in Juba.
He said the government was concerned about sports in the country and that all sports like football, basketball, and volleyball have been considered key tools for peace-building in the country.
“Therefore, for us to promote widely, all the sports playgrounds must go back to the ministry of youth and sports and the respective ministries of youth and sports in the states and three administrative areas,” he added.
Although the minister did not reveal how many football pitches are illegally being occupied, he said most of them were grabbed by top government officials but failed to mention them.
Dr Albino assured the public of the government’s commitment to doing everything possible to make sure that its goals for sports are achieved.
Investing in sports
“Football can observe negative thinking and enter into the lives of youths. “Football can change the narrative and can bring us together,” he said.
Dr Albino said, “After the Second World War, what improved the European people and rehabilitated their souls was sports, and today, as South Sudanese, we need to engage in sports.”
“My only message on this joyful day is for the young people of South Sudan to engage in sports activities and positive things that can bring peace. The people who are playing on the pitch are not playing as tribes but as teams, and that is what the South Sudanese need,” Dr Albion stressed.
Rita Dominic, the Central Equatoria State Minister of Youth and Sports, said it was high time for the authorities in the state and national government to invest more in sports.
She said investing in sports means building a concrete foundation for lasting peace in the country.
“Sports are the only devices that can give us peace in the country, but how can it be sustained among our youths?” “Yes, it can unite us, it can bring our young ones to each other as one people of South Sudan, but we need to give much attention to promoting it in the country,” Rita said.
Rita reiterated the need for better sports facilities in the country, saying they needed to provide space for sports activities.
“I wish the Juba City Mayor was here so that he could pick it up from me. There are many football playgrounds in Juba that have been grabbed by some people, I am saying today, we want those playgrounds back,” he said.
“We understand some people have already built concrete houses [but] we need to reclaim [them] back through presidential decrees,” Rita added.
The minister assured the public of her ministry’s commitment to working closely with the ministry of housing and the Juba City Council to make sure all the pitches grabbed are returned to the ministry of youth and sports.
