South Sudan police on Friday said that their land in the Gudele 1 neighbourhood of Juba is being illegally occupied, directing all squatters who have invaded parcels of land to move out.
Addressing a press conference in Juba, Police Spokesman Maj Gen Daniel Justin said 230,834 square meters of land in Gudele 1 belonging to the police is being occupied illegally.
He underscored that the police will take action if the squatters do not leave before January 2024.
According to Daniel, the Ministry of Lands and Physical Infrastructure had allotted that land to police reserve forces in 1970 to build offices.
He further said the army occupied the land during the liberation struggle, as it was one of the entry points to Juba and after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005; it was handed over to the police.
“But some individuals built on that land knowing very well that the land belongs to the police. A committee was constituted by the Inspector General of Police, headed by Lt. Gen Majak Arol, who was the Director for Logistics and Procurement and other officers as members, and the Director of Police Legal Affairs was one of the members,” he said.
He noted that the committee had processed the documents for the land and informed the people who built on the land to vacate, but the order was not adhered to.
“At that time, we were able to vacate them by force. The police are one of the apparatus that keeps law and order and maintain security. We had to resort to the law, and a criminal case was opened under Section 48/329 of the Penal Code Act, 2008,” he said.
He added,” The Public Prosecution Attorney General issued an order of suspension of the building as well as a warrant of arrest. We are now in the process of arrest. Therefore, the police are informing those who built on the land of the police at Gudele (1) Lou that the land belongs to the police. Anyone who is living in that place has to vacate before the dry season because, in January 2024, we are going to evict them by force.”
For his part, Maj Gen Sadik Ismail Sidigi, Director of Legal Affairs of the National Police Service, said they would not compensate the squatters.
“We are not going to compensate any person because when you are building, you should have the proper documents for the building. If you build in the wrong place, we will not compensate you. They know very well that the place belongs to the police, and we expect the court to rule in favour of us because we have all the documents of allotment and anyone who is there does not have any document of allotment,” he said.
“There are going to be arrests because when somebody enters your house, you open a case. If he or she doesn’t want to go out, then you arrest him,” he added.
Occupants of the land could not immediately be reached for comment.
South Sudan Land Act 2009 says every person shall have the right to acquire or own property as regulated by law and as stipulated in Article 32 (1) of the Constitution.
It further says no right in land shall be expropriated or confiscated save by law in the public interest and in consideration for a prompt and fair compensation.