Despite progress made by the Alliance for Land Rights South Sudan (ALRSS) in resolving land conflicts in Western Bahr el Ghazal State, land disputes remain a major source of conflicts among the communities in Western Bahr el Ghazal State.
ALRSS is a civil society organization that works to support vulnerable people in South Sudan, particularly women, the elderly, and internally displaced people. One of its core mandates is supporting vulnerable people in obtaining land titles.
Since South Sudan gained her independence in 2011, many people continue to be embroiled in land disputes, especially those who fled their homelands during successive civil wars, only to return home, often to find their land occupied.
ALRSS has so far resolved many land disputes, including offering legal assistance and other forms of land dispute mitigation, in Western Bahr el Ghazal State to help vulnerable people acquire land titles.
This year alone, the organization handed over 121 land title documents to vulnerable people in Wau Town and is actively helping more people whose land was grabbed during the civil war to repossess it.
Hundreds of people have lost their lives in the process of reclaiming their land while others remain frustrated over the weakness in the land tenure and justice systems in the state.
Most of the fights are essentially triggered by double allotment of plots, land grabbing, illegal land transfers, and renaming of residential areas that do not correspond with the details in the documents in their possession.
To address land-related conflicts and disputes, two years ago, the State Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Public Utilities formed a Land Disputes Committee tasked to mediate and mitigate conflict over land based on evidence and legal documents presented by the conflicting parties.
A survey by Radio Tamazuj indicates that land disputes are on the rise in the state, particularly in Wau Town. Bìtïwe Charles Andrea, a Wau resident, said land disputes are increasing in the state due to secondary occupation and double allotments of plots as the Internally Displaced Persons voluntarily return home.
“Today, Wau is witnessing an increase in insurmountable challenges of housing, land, and property issues caused by many years of human-induced conflict, lack of professional staff at the lands ministry, and the absence of a digitized system of issuing land titles,” said Andrea.
Tereza Martin, a mother of six, has been battling to take possession of her piece of land for a year now. She says she bought the plot in 2021 but in 2023, another person showed up and claimed to be the owner of the same plot.
“I got this plot from an old man in 2021 and the person in conflict with me right now has documents showing that he got the plot in 2023. I heard my name announced over the radio and went to the Land Disputes Committee,” she explained. “I found his name on a document made in 2023 while I also have the rightful document of the same plot number from 2021. The committee then told him that I was the rightful owner of the plot.”
Martin adds: “However, this person has always conflicted with us, he started with my cousin, my neighbor, and now he has turned to me and it seems a woman does not have the right to own a plot in this country.”
She is now scared about the welfare and future of her family who will be left with no permanent place for settlement if the land is taken away from her.
“What I want is my plot because it is the only property I can afford for my children and I cannot leave it for anyone although many people have been killed for such a cause,” Martin asserts.
When contacted, the second party to the conflict, Simon Joseph, narrated how he bought the same plot of land from an Arab man immediately after the independence of South Sudan in 2011.
“I brought this plot from a Sudanese man in 2011. Personally, before everything, I went to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure at that time and verified that the plot is fully owned and registered in the name of the owner and there was nobody on that plot,” he states. “Based on that, I paid for the land and went through the necessary steps until I got all my legal permits. Unfortunately, after some time, I realized there was someone who came and processed the documents with a date before the time I owned the plot.”
According to Joseph, the case was amicably settled by the State Land Disputes Committee which gave back the disputed plot to him but Tereza Martin refused to vacate the land. He says he only wants his plot because he is the rightful owner.
“This is my right and I cannot step down. Yes, I know women are always victimized but this lady was misled by others,” Joseph says. “This case is already resolved and I need her to vacate the space and that is my only request.”
For his part, the chairperson of the Land Dispute Committee in the State Ministry of Lands, Housing and Public Utilities, Issa Fatur, confirmed that there are ongoing efforts by the committee to resolve the matter.
“If we find that the plot is registered in the name of the individual in both land register books, definitely there will be no problems, but if we get a different name, we do our investigations and also go on the ground to verify everything,” he clarifies. “Based on the available facts, we issue degrees for the rightful owner of the plot. For the plots that have certificates from the court, in such a case we always refer the conflicted parties to the court and write them the primary details asking the court to take the lead on the case.”
Fatur urges citizens to follow legal procedures when acquiring land before buying any plots.
“There are people who use powers, some bribe and others are land traders,” he says and advises: “If you encounter any agreement related to land issues, please come to us and verify them before wasting your resources. This will also help you to avoid land disputes.”
Meanwhile, the Director of Lands, Philip Batista, blames the ministry’s staff and citizens for not following the rightful procedures of acquiring land.
“Those mistakes are made here in the ministry. A client might come and pay money then an official will issue a tenancy agreement while we have two land register books; one for procedures and the second for landlord details,” he enlightens. “When you come with your permits, the director of lands will direct you to verify if the plot is registered in your name but people always come in a hurry. As a result, the official may skip some processes, and later on, someone will also come with the same plot number and go through the whole process. In the end, you will find the two clients have been assigned to that single plot. That is why there is a double allotment.”
According to Batista, most citizens are not mindful of the importance of having plot documents. You can find someone occupying a piece of land while another person possesses the land title of the same plot.
“This is because people are just relying on the ticket that was given during the demarcation of the land, which is not wise because that ticket only contains the plot number for you to go and complete the process. In addition, most of our staff are not qualified and we are still using traditional ways of issuing plot documents,” he says. “To overcome these challenges, specifically double allotment issues, there will be a time frame for those holding a ticket with a plot number to process their documents and if you pass the period without acquiring your permits, then the ministry shall have the right of repossess the plots.”
“Another plan is to train and build the capacity of our staff to reduce disputes and conflicts over land in our state” Batista adds.
He appealed to the partners supporting the lands ministry to give them computers and capacity-building training in digitizing the data system.