Jibi MosesDecember 3, 2025
A claim making rounds that the Mayor of Juba City Council, Christopher Sarafino Wani Swaka (archived), was arrested by the National Security is false.
The post (archived) published by Juba TV, an online news outlet with a Facebook page, claimed a citywide vendor-clearance operation ordered by Juba City Mayor Christopher Sarafino Swaka has escalated into violence, with eyewitnesses reporting several fatalities during clashes between law enforcement officers and roadside traders, but the claim is false.
The post on Facebook attracted 195 reactions, 35 comments and 6 shares in less than 20 hours.
Other sources that published the same are Tonj Times (archived) and Visit Aweil Media (archived), both Facebook pages with reasonable followings.
Debunking the Claim:
Keyword verification of the words ‘the Juba city council mayor arrested’ didn’t bring any results showing he was arrested; instead, a post by Witt TV (archived) titled “Juba City Council denies rumours of Mayor Swaka’s arrest” debunked the claim.
Tagging Juba TV, the Juba City Council official page refuted the allegations and warned that the post be taken down by Juba TV.
“Releasing false statements against public servants violates the law and exposes your platform, Juba TV, to police action. Mayor Chris Swaka is not under arrest. He is carrying out his duties,” Juba City Council — CES condemned what it called “…this misinformation” and requested that the post be removed “immediately.”
Shortly after the claim started making rounds, the Governor of Central Equatoria Facebook page published a story where the mayor met with the governor to brief the latter on the developments in the city.
Similarly, on Tuesday, 2 December 2025, the mayor, the governor and national authorities were seen at the Custom market addressing the traders and public who were affected by a fire outbreak at Juba’s Nyakuron area.
Violence and fatalities
The claim further states that the cause of the mayor’s detention was due to escalated violence, with eyewitnesses reporting several fatalities during clashes between law enforcement officers and roadside traders.
On 1 Dec, 2025, neither the customs nor the KonyoKonyo markets were violent, despite the fact the city council was carrying out its work of demarcating the market.
The English dictionary definition of the word ‘fatalities’ is the quality or state of causing death or destruction. However, none of the media, either mainstream or alternative, did mention such in Juba yesterday, either death or destruction of property due to violence.
Robust market reorganisation initiative of Custom and KonyoKonyo markets
From the 29th of November 2025, the City Council took the initiative of making the two markets cleaner and accessible. In implementing, they temporarily closed them as they did their work.
“On 29th November 2025, the Juba City Council leadership, made up of the Mayor alongside his Deputies took up a normal routine in Juba City Council for a temporarily closure of Konyokonyo and Custom Markets, for a scheduled general cleaning and urban order exercise in the interest of public safety, hygiene, and the smooth flow of traffic within our city,” a statement seen on the official Juba City Council Facebook page reads in part.
Our Verdict:
The ClarityDesk has established that the social media post claiming Juba city mayor, Christopher Wani Swaka, was detained by National Security is false. The city mayor has been in meetings even at the time of publishing the claim, including one with the Central Equatoria State governor.
Have you spotted an error in this article and would like to request a correction, or have you come across a claim that we should investigate? Please send us an email to editor@claritydesk.org or click here to contact us via WhatsApp at +211 928 606 958.
The ClarityDesk
