Opinion | Land issues in South Sudan

By Gen. Stephen Buay Rolnyang

OPINION, JANUARY 28^th 2023 (SUDANS POST) – Land means the surface of the earth and the earth below the surface and all substances other than minerals and petroleum below the surface. Land is a common property of the people of South Sudan which shall not be subject to sale or any other means of exchange. The customary use of land has been revoked since we have gained the independence of the Republic of South Sudan and is supposed to be replaced with the national and state laws that shall manage and regulate the use of land.

Land can be divided into urban and communal village land. The portion of land in the urban area is supposed to be allocated to a citizen under an urban land act that shall be made by the legislative branch while the portion of land in the village is supposed to be allocated to a villager or a group of villagers or new settler(s) by village council under the village land act.

The management of land is supposed to be vested in the national ministry of land and land commission through the national government to regulate the use of land on behalf of the citizens using the law and policy of the land made by the legislative branch. The rights and interests of the citizens in land shall not be taken without due process of law and a full and fair compensation can be made when land is acquired. Citizens must participate in decision making on matters related to their occupation or use of land. The national or state government has a right to seize a land of a citizen for public purpose and compensate the owner at fair market value.

The national and state governments should regulate and demarcate the land for the following purposes:

1. Residential area
2. Market area
3. Institutional area
4. Industrial and mining areas
5. Road, rail networks and stations
6. Park
7. Reserved land for (Wildlife)
8. Forest
9. Agricultural area
10. Pastoral area (livestock)
11. Recreational areas (Leisure and Sports)
12. Airports
13. Hazard land (Swamps, wetlands, dumping site for hazardous waste, riverbank etc. which Should not be developed on account of its fragile nature)

The following are the root causes of land issues in the Republic of South Sudan.

FIRST LAND ISSUE IN GREATER EQUATORIA

On August 18, 1955, South Sudanese people mutinied in Torit against the Arab regime in the old Sudan and the mutiny spread to all other towns and areas in Southern Sudan. As a result, the other South Sudanese (Non-Equatorians) believed that the Equatoria became the source and base of rebellion and willingly started to move to Equatoria with or without their families, relatives, and friends to join the war of liberation struggle. When peace agreement was signed in 1972, Juba was made the capital city of Southern Sudan and all non-Equatorians who were in the Anyanya-1 around the bushes of greater Equatoria and those who got assigned in the regional government came to Juba with their families, relatives, and friends, and with time acquired and built portions of land and became citizens in Juba. (Indigenous communities in greater Equatoria do not go along with this kind of development).

SECOND LAND ISSUE IN GREATER EQUATORIA.

The SPLM/A was formed in 1983, to continue to fight for the war of liberation struggle and deployed thousands of forces in greater Equatoria capturing towns and establishing bases around greater Equatoria and in the process, they gradually brought their families, relatives, and friends to be with them in their bases or trenches. In 2005, peace agreement was signed with the National Congress Party (NCP) and Juba was re-confirmed as the capital city for the government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) and consequently, there was a massive influx of government and military officials who got assigned at the national level and those who came to Juba willingly to look for greener pastures. Juba becomes a crowed city, and everyone wants to acquire a portion of land to build for their families and because there is no proper land regulation, this has inflamed serious hatred between non-Bari and Bari indigenous community who call it a land grabbing in Juba, a contagious term which quickly spread to other state capital cities across the country and used by other indigenous communities as land issue among the citizens there.

DINKA CATTLE CAMPS AROUND GREATER EQUATORIA.

The Dinka Bor cattle herders started to move their cattle to Equatoria during the SPLM/A-split in 1991, and other subsequent crises in greater Jonglei. They were warmly welcomed by the host communities especially in central and eastern Equatoria, but with time, the local communities began to accuse them of overstaying and destroying their farms and not abiding by the local laws and want them to go back to their ancestral land. On the other hand, the herders argue that there are still some hostilities in greater Jonglei that cannot allow them to go back with their cattle until situation returns to a complete normalcy.  Subsequently, the situation has escalated into deadly clashes between the herders and local communities in central and eastern Equatoria causing displacement, death and serious hatred between the cattle herders and the host communities who are influenced by their respective local, state, and national officials. Meanwhile the regime is unable to act because its hands are tied and incapacitated politically and tribally.

ADVICE TO BOR CATTLE HERDERS.

Stay peacefully in Equatoria land as citizens of South Sudan but cooperate with the local communities, respect, and abide by the local laws until you move back to your ancestral land when situation in greater Jonglei returns to normalcy. We all know the gravity of the situation in greater Jonglei and therefore, you cannot be blamed now.

ADVICE TO EQUATORIAN HOST COMMUNITIES

Please continue to host and welcome non-Equatorian in your ancestral land if they cooperate, respect, and abide by your local laws. We are one people, and we need to love one another and promote inter – marriages across the country.  South Sudan is our own country in which we are free and have a right to live. That is why oil in Western Upper Nile (Bentiu) and Upper Nile (Paloch) is supposed to be used by the government on behalf of all the citizens for development and other public benefits, but the regime elites are eating it alone without any mercy for its citizens.

Furthermore, I ask Bari people to allow Juba to be developed and expanded to meet with Yei, Kajo-Keji, Terekeka, Mundiri, Bor, Torit and Nimule on the Uganda border.

The author is the Chairman and Commander in Chief of South Sudan People’s Movement/South Sudan People’s Army (SSPM/SSPA).

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