The commissioners of Juba County and Terekeka County have jointly appealed to the communities of the two sisterly counties to abstain from land-related disputes that have claimed the lives of innocent civilians.
Speaking on Tuesday during the burial of two people who were killed by land grabbers in the Molubur area Juba County’s Lado Payam, the commissioner of Juba County, Emmanuel Tete Ezbon, said delays in issuing land tokens to the rightful owners have increased land-related deaths.
He clarified that most of the places around Juba City have been demarcated since 2008 and he advised those who own land within the city’s jurisdictions to at least construct temporary structures to protect their land from land grabbers.
‘’I know that the situation is like this now because we have been writing tokens but not giving them out and that is why it brings death like this. The same thing is happening in Mangala, Amadi, and other areas,” he explained. “Where does the issue of the token come from? It comes from us because we are the ones who announce land tokens. When we want to demarcate the land, I find that our people are not ready and when someone occupies, they say their land has been taken.”
Commissioner Tete added: “Please, at least use your empty land to plan something or build a hut but if the land is empty, anyone can come and grab it. We know the land that belongs to citizens, schools, and hospitals but no one is here but they will come.”
For his part, Terekeka County Commissioner Eng. George Wani expressed solidarity with Ladu Payam but urged the youth to refrain from taking the law into their own hands.
He highlighted the importance of unity among community leaders and residents for lasting peace and encouraged the families of the deceased to remain strong, promising that the government is actively working to protect citizens.
‘’I do not know exactly what is in Molubur that all the time youth are killed and the killers do not face justice. All these are a result of land grabbing which is in Molubur today, tomorrow it will be in Rajaf, and the next day in in Tali, and other locations,” he stated. “We want these issues to stop and I am sure that the leaders in the community, state, and country can be involved to stop such issues because our civilians in Molubur have been suffering for long and we must now say this is enough and must stop.”
Central Equatoria State has been rocked by recurrent violent land grabbing over the years, especially in areas between Juba Terekeka counties.
In the recent past, violent land disputes have been registered in areas of Amadi, Mangala, Jebel Ladu Payam, and Molubur among others.