Where is Engr. Charles Kisanga?

Engineer Charles Kisanga, the former minister of communication for South Sudan’s Western Equatoria State, was abducted in the capital Juba on Wednesday morning by men dressed in army uniforms, according to his wife and a close friend.

Suzanne Kisanga, Charles’ wife, told a Juba-based media outlet in an exclusive interview this morning that her husband departed with a friend in the morning on Wednesday for a meeting with someone she recognized as Jackson Gamu at Classic Hotel and never returned after being forced into a vehicle.

“My husband departed with one of his buddies in the morning, and when they arrived, someone came with a vehicle, obviously the one who was supposed to have a meeting with him and requested him to get into a car, and they took him away and never returned to me,” Suzanne said.

The unnamed buddy verified the occurrence and said that he had departed for the appointment with Charles to meet someone who had requested him to get into a pickup truck upon arriving at the hotel before departing and returning with two cars, following which they abducted him by force.

“Charles yesterday morning requested me to accompany him to a location for a meeting with someone but then the site of the meeting was modified while we were on the way and it was planned to be at Classic Hotel at Hai Mawona. “We departed at 9 a.m. and remained at the hotel for 45 minutes before the individuals who abducted him came,” a buddy said.

“At 10:00 a.m., someone walked up to Charles and introduced himself as Jackson Gamu, and he urged Charles to get into a pickup truck, which he declined. He left the hotel and returned at 10:23AM with another automobile, all of whom were dressed in SSPDF uniforms.

“They began shoving him (Charles) into the vehicle, and they left me, and I’ve never heard from Kisanga since,” he recalls.

Suzanne explained in a publication seen by NCMP that they had launched a police case at Munuki police station and inquired with the National Security Service (NSS) and the SSPDF military intelligence to see whether Charles was being held in those locations, but had received no response.

“We have started a police complaint at Munuki Police station and we have also talked to the police since he is a brigadier general in the VIP security unit which graduated in August. Maj. Gen. Daniel Justin, the police spokesperson, indicated he will submit a complaint as well,” she stated.

“We also went to the National Security Service and the South Sudan People’s Defense Force Military Intelligence (MI), but we obtained no information on him, and they said they would notify us if there was any,” she said.

She went on to say that she had heard from her husband that he had a long-standing feud with Speaker of Parliament Jemma Nunu Kumba when she was the SPLM Acting Secretary General and that the feud had lately increased.

“I was told by Charles that he had political disagreements with the speaker of parliament because she was the acting SPLM Secretary-General, and the dispute had recently gotten worse just days before he was kidnapped, and I believe that his disappearance has something to do with those political feuds,” she said.

Who is responsible for Kisanga’s abduction is still unknown.