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 Gai, 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.
VP’s Family Responds
When contacted to explain why they demolished the widow’s house and occupied her land, the family of Vice President Benjamin Bol Mel rubbished the claim that they grabbed the widow’s land.
Responding to Radio Tamazuj’s questions, the representative of Bol Mel’s family denied wrongdoing, claiming they legally acquired the land in 2008-2009 from another South Sudanese man and fenced it with wire, which was later destroyed. They accused Nyaluak and her neighbor, Deng Wuor, of encroachment.
“There is a guy called Deng Wuor who went to court with us. The court told him that the land belongs to Benjamin Bol Mel’s family and ordered him to vacate it after the verdict. Then this woman, the widow of the late General Thuch, was staying on the same land and claimed she had nowhere to go. She was given time to stay, and the people in the compound were given money to remove their properties,” Mel Tong, a representative of the Bol Mel family, told Radio Tamazuj.
“This woman stayed there for a while. When we gave her money to take her properties, she claimed to have documents for the land. At the time we were in court with Deng Wuor, she was nowhere to be found. The case went to court, and the court ruled in favor of Bol Mel. The woman had no legal document,” he said.
“Benjamin Bol’s lawyer went to court with Deng Wuor and defeated him in court, leading to his eviction. This woman who has a problem now had a small house on the same plot. At the time they were chasing people, she pleaded to be given time to leave,” he claimed.
“The people there were given money to remove their things, and most of them left. Only this woman remained on the land. When we wanted to give her money to take her property, she refused, claiming to have documents for the plot,” he said.
“Later, the case was taken to court, and she lost any claims of ownership. She appealed, but the case was dismissed. She appealed again to the high court, but the appeal was dismissed since she had no documents,” he explained.
Radio Tamazuj sought to obtain land documents from the Bol Mel family to review and verify their claims. Mel Tong said the documents were with their family lawyer. Several calls to the family lawyer went unanswered for days.
Radio Tamazuj also spoke to Deng Wuor, the former neighbor of Nyaluak Gai, whose Plot Number 5 was also demolished through a court order in a dispute with the Bol Mel family. He denied allegations that he sold the land in question to Nyaluak Gai, the widow of the late General James Tut Thuch.
Wuor clarified that Nyaluak had been his neighbor since 2015 and insisted he had never sold land to her or anyone else, rejecting claims by the Bol Mel family that he had transferred land ownership to the widow.
“Regarding the recent case involving a woman who was my neighbor, I was summoned to court,” Wuor said. “The lawyer representing Bol Mel’s family claimed I had sold the land to them. I testified that I never sold any land to anyone. In fact, my own land was demolished in a similar manner.”
Wuor recounted his own land dispute dating back to 2021, in which he lost a plot measuring 40 by 35 meters after a court ruled that he had encroached on Vice President Bol Mel’s property by 18 meters. He said that despite the court’s claim, no clear measurement of the encroachment was ever identified.
“I owned a piece of land that was legally registered under my name. Unfortunately, the entire perimeter wall of my property was demolished under the claim that I had encroached by 18 meters,” he said. “However, even after the demolition, the alleged 18 meters could not be identified.”
Wuor further alleged that the legal process surrounding his case was deeply flawed, citing intimidation and irregularities in the court process. He claimed his statements repeatedly went missing from case files and that the court refused to consider his evidence.
“The court’s procedures seemed biased, and I eventually saw no reason to continue pursuing the case,” he said. “The final court verdict and the demolition happened on the same day, without giving me the standard 14-day window to appeal or respond—which violates fair legal practice.”
History of the Disputed Land
To further clarify the ambiguity surrounding the land dispute, Radio Tamazuj spoke to the chairperson of the Nyakuron South neighborhood to uncover the truth about the history of the late Gen. James Tut Thuch’s land.
The chairman of Nyakuron South, William Lual, confirmed that the widow had been involved in a battle with the family of Vice President Benjamin Bol Mel.
Lual outright accused the Vice President’s family of forcefully grabbing the widow’s land. He revealed that the land initially bought by Bol Mel’s wife, Yar Manyuon Deng, was on a separate low-lying plot that had not been allocated but was later sold by the Central Equatoria state government to a man named Patrick, who then sold it to Bol Mel’s wife.
Later, when Bol Mel’s wife took over the low-lying land, they began constructing a fence and decided to grab more land from neighbors, he explained.
The soldiers from the joint operation came and demolished the late general’s house, including the latrines and bathroom. A Good Samaritan from the neighborhood gave them a plastic sheet to protect the children, Lual said.
“Again, the joint operation came and threw everyone out of the compound. Right now, the children are just outside their home, yet they are the full owners of the land with all the legal documents,” he added.
Meanwhile, Ter Manyang Gatwech, a South Sudanese human rights defender, accused Bol Mel’s family of land grabbing and called on the Vice President to abide by the rule of law.
“I personally know the history of that land. The land belongs to the late husband of that woman. When Vice President Bol Mel bought land in that area, he wanted to take the whole place, even from people who acquired their land before him,” Manyang claimed.
“No one is above the law. If the case has been concluded in court, I don’t think the Vice President has the power to act against an innocent citizen who is supposed to be protected by him. This is a bad move, and it proves that land is being grabbed by senior officials in this country,” he concluded.
As of publication, the Bol Mel family has not provided land records to substantiate their claims. Meanwhile, Nyaluak and her children remain displaced, fighting to reclaim what their father left behind.