Two SSPDF soldier alleged to be with land grabbers removing Rose's properties from the house on Sunday - courtesy

A 71 year old widow battling suspected land grabbers in Hai-Tarawa residential area of Juba has called on the land committee established by the president to come to her rescue.

Yesterday, men dressed in army uniform invaded Rose Rubanya’s home and threw away her properties claiming ownership of the land.

Rose Rubanya says her late husband Stephen Ratakajo Abraham acquired the piece of land from the Central Equatoria State government in early 2000 before his demise in 2004.

She says a man named John Jafarino Ladu had earlier claimed the title of the land before a court verdict favored her late husband.

According to Rubanya, Jafarino Ladu allegedly sold the land to Basha Kuat, a move she says is illegal and unconstitutional.

She stated that Basha Kuat and John Jafarino Ladu allegedly connived with a public prosecutor attorney who served them with an eviction notice yesterday.

Rubanya also says her son was arrested and detained in an unknown location on the order of Basha Kuat and John Jafarino Ladu.

She is now appealing to the state authorities and the land committee set by President Salva Kiir to intervene saying she is helpless.

“This is my plot, it was allotted to me in the early 2,000, when I was given the plot, and this place was still a bush, people started building here when we had already settled here. I have all the papers my late husband got for the land, there is no single paper missing,” said Rose.

“The land grabbers came and they threw my property out and they ordered that nobody should come close to the house. They came armed.”

She added that the alleged land grabber resurfaced again after losing the court case to her late husband.

“There was a person who came and claimed that the plot was his, he dragged my late husband to court and my late husband won the case, he was asked whether he had papers and he said he didn’t have papers,” the 70-year-old widow said.

“My late husband had all his papers intact. Since my husband died in 2004 he has not come again and he resurfaced again recently.

“They saw I am an old woman and powerless and can hardly walk. That is why they are taking advantage, if the government can come to my rescue It will be well.”

There have been conflicts related to land grabbing and unlawful allotment of land in the capital Juba and other areas around Central Equatoria State.

Last week, the Minister of Land, Housing and Public Utilities in Central Equatoria state warned that it will crack down and take legal action against those who are illegally grabbing land within the state.