Residents of Jopari, a suburb west of South Sudan’s capital, have rejected an ongoing government land allocation exercise, calling for a temporary halt until an ownership dispute is resolved in court.
Jopari is located in the Kapuri residential area of Nyarjua Boma in Luri Payam, Juba County, Central Equatoria State. The area, like several parts of Juba, has experienced recurrent land disputes, some of which have turned violent.
The Central Equatoria State government recently announced plans to begin showing demarcated plots to what it described as “rightful owners” and to open surveyed roads in 13 areas within and around Juba, including Jopari.
But local leaders say the exercise should not proceed while a lawsuit over ownership of the land remains pending.
“We have not approved the showing exercise because the area is contested by a neighboring community and the case is in court,” said Emmanuel Subek, a Nyarjua Boma official and secretary of the local land committee.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Sunday, Subek alleged that in 2018, individuals from the neighboring Rambur community, working with unnamed state officials, surveyed Jopari and allocated plots to new beneficiaries instead of residents who have lived there for decades.
“Rambur, a neighboring community, colluded with some powerful officials in the state government and surveyed Jopari, giving out plots to individuals other than those who have been occupying them since 1990,” he said. “We filed a lawsuit last July, and the case is still pending. We reject the survey scheduled to begin Monday while the dispute is unresolved.”
He urged the state government to suspend the exercise until the court determines ownership.
“We are not against government surveys,” Subek added. “Our demand is that the dispute be settled first and the rightful community consulted before any exercise takes place.”
John Lodu, a Bari community chief in Jopari, accused officials of facilitating the sale of ancestral land.
“As a community, we are seeking a peaceful settlement to our dispute with the Rambur community,” he said. “But our ancestral land has been allocated to powerful individuals. We know our traditional boundaries.”
Some residents warned the dispute could escalate if authorities proceed with the exercise.
Emmanuel Joseph Machar, a Jopari resident, said the county commissioner visited the area on Saturday to inform residents that the exercise would continue despite the pending lawsuit.
“Why would they want to displace about 7,000 residents who have been here for decades?” he said. “What is happening is a recipe for violence.”
Efforts to reach Juba County Commissioner Emmanuel Tete Ezbon for comment were unsuccessful.
Land disputes are common in and around Juba, where rapid urban expansion, population growth and competing customary and statutory land claims have fueled tensions in recent years.