Central Equatoria bans illegal land allotments

The Governor of Central Equatoria State, Emmanuel Adil Anthony has banned illegal issuance of land including the use of “token” in Juba County.

This was resolved in a meeting he held with state land authorities on Monday.

The office of the governor said the meeting was meant to address the land-related crisis and forge robust mechanisms towards land acquisition and its management.

The meeting resolved issues and “banned in totality the use of tokens and urged the general public to uphold the legitimate ways of land acquisition as enshrined in the country’s laws.”

The state authorities resolved that the state government would start the exercise of showing plots to their owners from February to April. Governor Adil directed the state ministry of land, housing, and public utilities to liaise with other authorities to implement the directive.

“The state government would formulate land management mechanisms to stop land grabbing and there would be weekly review meetings for plot showing and giving advice,” the statement read in part.

The meeting called on the public to cooperate with the relevant authorities and warned those who would continue with illegal practices.

Call to cooperate

Last month, the high-level committee on land grabbing and informal settlements urged the community to join hands with them after their visit to Jebel-Dinka.

The national minister for land, housing, and urban development, Michael Chiangjiek, who doubles as the chairperson of the committee, said the community should support the government in addressing land disputes.

“The chair, who also doubles as the National Minister of Land, Housing and Urban Development, Michael Chiangjiek, urged the communities residing around him to embrace peaceful co-existence, especially the host community of Bari, as the government expedites efforts to find an amicable solution to persisting land grabbing issues,” read the statement.

Governor Adil Anthony, the co-chair of the committee, called for cooperation from the civil population as they embark on their major executions across Juba County on mapping the demarcated areas in Juba County.

The commissioner of Juba County, Charles Joseph Wani, promised to promote peaceful coexistence within communities.

 “Notably, the residents of the area have appealed to the state authorities to expedite the process of obtaining legal documents and official showings to curb other illegalities perpetuated by some defiant elements of the community,” he said.

The areas said to have issues of land grabbing are Gumbo, Korok West, Lukwili, and Tokiman East and West.

Land dispute

In December 2021, the high-level committee, while carrying out a demolition exercise in Grabby Payam clashed with community members, leaving two people dead and two others wounded.

In October 2021, the minister of land, housing, and urban development, Michael Chiangjiek who doubles as the committee chair, revealed the introduction of e-registration of land as the best solution to land disputes in the city and the country at large.