Army tells citizens to sue commanders grabbing lands in Juba

JUBA – South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) is telling citizens to sue members of the army grabbing lands in Juba, saying there is no systemic actions from the army to snatch citizens’ lands in the country.

Last week, the Foundation for Democracy and Accountable Governance (FODAG), one of the civil society groups championing access to justice in South Sudan, released a report implicating senior military commanders in land-grabbing scandals.

The 26-page report dubbed as “Land, Reparation and Transitional Justice in South Sudan,” compiled in July and September 2020, accused some senior military commanders of land grabbing and intimidating judiciary officials in the country.

The report highlighted that most land grabbing in areas of Yei predominately happened shortly after the liberation of Yei and independence of South Sudan. The finding in Yei indicated that as soon as Yei was captured, a lot of SPLA commanders took all the empty lands that belonged to the people that departed the area.

The reports stated that land related issues escalated after the conflict of 2013, and 2016 which displaced thousands of people.

Speaking to Sudans Post in an exclusive interview on Monday, Brigadier General Santo Domic Chol, acting army spokesman refuted the reports, describing its individuals’ affairs.

“The report has got nothing to do with the strategy of the military; it has nothing to do with tactics of the military. These are individual’s affairs and I would hope that the organization should produce the list and take that list to the court so that those individuals are called before the court and the investigation is scheduled,” Domic told Sudans Post.

“I refuted it, it has nothing to do with the military, the military didn’t have a meeting to organize such kind of land grabbing. There is nothing like that,” he said.