A community leader in South Sudan’s capital accused government officials and military generals on Friday of illegally seizing land that residents have occupied for decades.
Angelo Lobojo Waran, chief of the Camp Kuku area in Juba, said he and more than 200 other residents have been denied legal ownership of their land despite applying for documents in 2013. The area is located opposite the former Juba Regency Hotel.
“Our issue is about land,” Waran said in an interview with Radio Tamazuj. “I am one of the people who settled in this area since the 90s. However, the big problem is that we who were here since did not get place.”
Waran, who said he is also a victim of the dispute, alleged that after the community applied to the Central Equatoria State Ministry of Land, Housing and Public Utilities, the number of households deemed eligible for compensation was slashed from 250 to 35.
“The number was reduced from 250 to 35, and till now they are not given plots,” he said.
The chief appealed to the land ministry to provide compensation and relocate the residents if the land is to be given to others.
“If they say this place belong to people of high class and money, let them then compensate us with another place somewhere,” Waran said. “Because all we need is a place for us to settle.”
He said the long-term residents have been unable to build proper homes or develop the area, despite having buried family members there.
Waran also called on advocacy organizations, such as the Grassroots Women Network, to assist the community in resolving the land dispute.
The State Ministry of Land could not be reached for comment.