Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative (WPDI) has partnered with the government to organize a dialogue, particularly focusing on land issues in Juba.

The forum unites stakeholders from the parliament, land commission, housing ministry, chiefs, payam administrators and other stakeholders to deliberate and raise awareness on curbing land-related conflicts in Juba.

WPDI Program Coordinator Bush Buse said the dialogue aims to analyze the causes of land-related conflicts in Juba County and develop strategies to prevent or reduce land grabbing.

“WPDI has accepted to join hands with the government to organize this today dialogue which will enable stakeholders in the parliament especially the Committee on Land,” he said.

“All the important stakeholders are here to deliberate on issues of land. They will analyze the causes of land related conflicts in Juba County and come up with the strategies on how to cope or prevent land grabbing, how to reduce tensions around land.”

He added that the resolution of the two-day dialogue will be presented to the government, particularly the Governor of Central Equatorial State and other partners.

Mr. Buse said the State Assembly is expected to enact laws that will address land issues in Central Equatorial State, particularly in Juba.

According to him, the dialogue is expected to have a positive impact on reducing insecurity and conflicts as well as enhancing unity, and promoting peaceful coexistence in the state.

“It will also enable the State Assembly to enact laws that will address issues of land and also reduce cases of insecurity and conflicts.”

“And that if the issues of land in Central Equatorial State, particularly Juba, are addressed, then unity will be made attractive, peaceful coexistence will be promoted and and issues of fighting around Juba, issues of violence will automatically be reduced.”

On his part, CES Minister of Parliamentary and Legal Affairs Taban Emmanuel Baya underscored that land grabbing is often facilitated by powerful individuals who may be connected to the state, national, or organized forces.

Taban said these individuals use their own offices to acquire land, which is illegal and hints at the issuance of land title deeds only by the state government.

“They do it using their own offices, which is a wrong thing to do because in fact, the issue of land acquisition should have been addressed by the state,” he stated.

The minister said the issue of land grabbing, which is being fueled by the commercialization of land has led to a shift in land usage, with many individuals acquiring large amounts of land for personal use or investment purposes.

According to him, the connection between money and land grabbing has made the issue of land grabbing more severe than when it began in 2005.

He said the current state of land theft is due to the increasing demand for land and the financial implications of owning and investing in land.

“Now introduce the issue of land grabbing. One of the things that also is supporting land grabbing is the issue of monetization of land.”

“So instead of you taking one land for your own personal use, for the use of your family, many people now would like to take a lot of land so that they either sell or they use it for investment.”

“So money, the connection of money, is what is making the issue of land grabbing far worse than when it started in 2005.”

The dialogue is being held under the theme: “Our collective action to reduce land tensions in Juba.”