JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — A video showing a mayor in South Sudan slapping a female street vendor has gone viral. Now he has been sacked.
In the video, Emmanuel Khamis Richard, the acting mayor of the African nation’s capital, is seen wielding a pistol and walking up to where a policeman and a woman vendor are scuffling as the police are trying to clear a Juba street of illegal vendors last week.
He the slaps the woman and walks away as the police operation continues.
The video was shared widely on social media, prompting an uproar in the national legislature while women’s rights groups and activists have demanded the mayor be removed from office, citing rights violation and poor leadership.
The mayor was then summoned to appear before city hall councilors and when he failed to do so, he was laid off over the weekend.
Khamis Richard, who was appointed June 27, has not commented on the incident.
He is the third mayor of Juba to be sacked since the formation of the transitional government in South Sudan.
Bol Deng Bol, an activist in Jonglei State, which borders Central Equatoria State where Juba is located, described the mayor’s removal as a significant step in ensuring accountability.
Bol, who chairs the Jonglei Civil Society Network, also urged for a civil lawsuit against the mayor.
The mayor’s successor has yet to be appointed.
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