Land disputes are the second most litigated cases in the courts across the country.

The access to justice annual trends report by Support  Peace Initiative Development has revealed.

According to the report, Juba, Torit, and Yambio are the major towns that have high rates of land disputes. However, Juba, as the capital city with the highest population, is said to have the most contentious cases of land grabbing.

 “Land grabbing trends in Central Equatoria State have taken a different dimension since land grabbers have gone as far as grabbing community land, like in the case of Mangala in Juba County, where some groups of civilians and armed men went to clear land without the knowledge of the community.

“This prompted the community and local government leaders to act swiftly, resulting in the arrest of the grabbers by the police,” said Morris John Peter, Rule and Law Officer of Support Peace Initiative Development.

 “The land grabbers are mostly powerful military personnel, especially executives and politicians, who think that they are above the rule of law,” he said.

Morris said most land grabbers are ready to do anything to take the land, and should any person kill or evict another forcefully.

Unscrupulous means

He stated that when a person takes a matter to court, the courts may grant that right but not carry out the court orders.

“Some people go as far as threatening or intimidating the judicial officials, which was unfortunate.”

Early last month, the residents of Sherikat accused the local leaders and chiefs of instigating conflict by selling land to more than two people. 

They said there had been serious competition over land ownership as people erected buildings on any piece of land, irrespective of whether the land was owned by someone else or not. 

They said a piece of land could be sold to more than one person. They added that a plot of land can be sold to one person, and before the buyer erects any structure, it is again hurriedly sold to another person.

In August, President Salva Kiir set up a committee to settle land disputes within Juba and its suburbs.

The committee is comprised of the national Minister of Land, Housing, and Urban Development, Michael Chiengjiek, as a co-chair of the committee, to work with the Governor of Central Equatoria State, Emmanuel Adil Anthony, to resolve persistent cases of land grabbing in Juba.