A rights group in Jonglei State has issued a one-week ultimatum to the governor to resolve a dispute over land. The group warned that it will file a lawsuit if the authorities don’t fix the matter.

This follows a rising tension between the Mayor of Bor Municipality, Samuel Ateny Pech, and a group of local businesswomen who accused the municipality of allotting their land meant for a market to investors. 

The angry local businesswomen staged protests in Bor town last week, prompting Deputy Governor Jacob Akech Dengdit to suspend the State Minister of Lands and Housing.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj in Bor town on Monday, the Jonglei State Civil Society Coalition set a seven-day ultimatum to the state government to resolve the land dispute or face a court battle.

 Bol Deng Bol, Chairperson of the Jonglei Civil Society Network, said: "So what we decided as civil society in Jonglei state, we have given the governor time to decide within a week. If the decision is not favouring or not putting the right questions on the table about who owns this place, we will go to court," Deng said.

He added, "If those questions are not really addressed well, we are going to move to court to stop the construction by the new investors to ensure the whole process is taken back to the right procedure."

Deng demanded that the state government use the proper procedures to take land from its owners.  

"The right procedure, in this case, is if I own a piece of land and the government wants my land for a certain thing, the government should come to me first, not to immediately sell out the land with this perception that everything belongs to the government," Deng said.

The rights group claimed that the embattled minister of lands and housing was fighting for the right of the land owners.