Governor Jadalla visits Molubur Boma in Lado Payam. (Photo/CES/Facebook).

Central Equatoria Governor Augustino Jadalla ordered an end to land demarcations in Molubur village of Lado Payam pending government directive, while calling on “land grabbers to stop the wanton practice” with immediate effect.

The governor toured Molubur on Sunday and witnessed activities of alleged land grabbers, who are said to impose fear on local residents through “military force, threats, displacement, looting, shooting and illegal demarcation.”

“Nobody should take the law into his/her hands. Those who carried out the heinous act are individual land grabbers but not government,” the governor is quoted as saying.

On 27th June 2024, Juba County Commissioner Emmanuel Ezbon Tete confirmed the deployment of soldiers to Molubur Boma following the killing of three women and a child during a land-related shootout a day before.

On his part, Charles Lako, the executive chief of Jebel Lado Payam, explained that over the past days, there have been unrest in the area as a result of land malpractice.

“There have been threats by the land grabbers, beatings, shooting and chaos all over in the area. As you can see these are all pegs fixed by the grabbers,” Lako said, according to a statement from the governor’s office.

In the past few years, Juba and surrounding areas have grappled with mushrooming landgrabbers with Mangalla, Rajaf, Luri, and Jebel Ladu being the most affected.

The situation is reportedly driven by widespread subnational violence that has forced civilians from across the country into the national capital to seek stability. Other factors include the return of thousands of South Sudanese from Sudan and the region.