South Sudanese politicians should allow traditional leaders in rural areas to deal with land related conflicts, the Bishop elect of Torit Catholic diocese, Rev. Dr Stephen Ameyu Mulla said.

Speaking on Radio Tamazuj’s Peace and Reconciliation programme on Monday, Mulla said conflicts over land in most communities result from politicians not allowing local chiefs to resolve land grabbing issues.

“We have to listen to our traditional leaders because our traditional leaders, the chiefs in the village and the elders know their corridor with the neighbors. This will not cause conflict and I want to urge politicians to adhere to this,” said the Bishop.

“These traditional leaders are the ones to solve the issue of land grabbing,” he added.

According to the cleric, conflicts between states or counties result from people not respecting chiefs who know the traditional borders.

“These [local chiefs] are the primary people to us,” he said.

He urged people to prioritize the use of community dialogues. 

“I want to make it easy for people to dialogue. I will not be the person for Catholic Christians only, but my door will be open to all so we help our people. I will be like a mediator to mediate between people to help them because our lives as Christians and non-Christians will be difficult if we close our doors,” stressed the Bishop.

He added, “Any problem which is there is because people are not informed. Someone sees that he is more important and vice versa. That is why they want to grab people’s properties.”