CES governor Emmanuel Adil addressing Council of State recently. Photo by Eye Radio's Moyo Jacob on 27.04.2022

The governor of Central Equatoria State has given landowners a year’s ultimatum to build their unused plots or lose the ownership.

Emmanuel Adil Anthony said the state government has discovered that some individuals have acquired more than 10 plots that are not developed in the suburbs of Juba City and other towns of the state.

Speaking at the state secretariat in Juba yesterday, Adil asserted that any piece of land that is not built is bound to attract potential land grabbers.

“We discovered one person may have ten or fifteen plots. We encourage the land owners to develop plots allotted to them and any piece of plot that is not developed, is subject to temptation, you don’t develop it within half a year, we give you a warning,” Governor Adil said.

He told land owners to occupy their plots to reduce the temptation of land grabbing.

“My leadership is encouraging land owners to embark on building estates, flats with the correct requirements and specifications,” he said.

Several residential areas in Juba city have seen increasing cases of land grabbing that have resulted in violence and insecurities in recent months.

On Tuesday, residents of Jondoru, Kor-Wolliang and Kasire in Juba engaged in brief clashes with land grabbers, injuring at least two people.

The suburban settlers appealed to the state authorities to immediately deploy organized forces to de-escalate the tension.

Governor Emmanuel Adil however said the measures will address the issue of land grabbing.

He also said failure to honor the one year ultimatum will lead to the confiscation of some plots by the government.

“If one year closes according to the land policy, we will withdraw that piece of plot from you. This is the decision we have taken.”

He warned that anyone who settled illegally on already demarcated land will be forcefully evicted.

Adil also disclosed his government’s plans to digitize land parcels as a measure to curb conflicts related to land.

The recurrent land related conflicts are attributed to the rapidly growing population in the city.

Authorities also believe the high value for land in Juba has resulted in illicit practices of land from powerless rightful owners.