Commentary: Who owns our land? A call for clarity

According to the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan and the Southern Sudan Land Act, "land belongs to the community." If that declaration sounds familiar, it was also a slogan of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) to gain popularity during its recent liberation struggle.

The soil in southern Sudan is fertile and promises great prospects for agriculture.Lobbying masses against former President Jaafar Nimeiri’s insistence that "all land was for the government," the SPLM struck the right chord with its philosophy that land belongs to the community.

But how does one define community, and which one is implied? People have divergent perspectives on the answer, and that's where the controversy lies. The Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan carries an element of ambiguity: it defines community as a grouping according to ancestral origin, residence, or interest.

Under this pluralistic but vague provision, therefore, a community of a given tribe or clan has the same right to land claims as a community of professionals or the land's current inhabitants. Since these three criteria do not necessarily overlap - indeed, they may have nothing to do with one another - what's missing is a specific definition of the community to whom specific land belongs.

Listen to Marvis Birungi's feature "Corporate land grabbing could undermine livelihoods"

Since all three groups can declare their interests legitimate, many people are calling for the recently formed Constitutional Review Committee to come up with a legally precise definition of community to avoid further confusion. After all, most conflicts in Southern Sudan are about land issues.

Grudges over land allotment exist even at government levels because land titles are misinterpreted. Needless to say, ethnic tensions arising from accusations of "land grabbing" are as common as the political term "marginalisation."

One reason our cities are exposed to limited growth is that indigenous communities that arguably have the most direct ties to their ancestral areas refuse to lease land to individual immigrants or government institutions. Such land is acquired only after certain financial conditions are met.

The expansion of southern cities comes at a high price: Waste disposal is a serious environmental problem in the outskirts of Juba.So where shall Southern Sudan, with independence only months away, get free land for its expanding institutions, cities and towns? Conversely, if land is withheld by the government as its property, who will step forward to remind the SPLM of its rallying call that "land belongs to the community?"

It is only with the utmost fairness that this issue can be meaningfully resolved.  

I believe the best mechanisms to solve potential problems associated with land ownership include a massive outreach campaign and a demarcation of administrative control over land. Land claims should be categorised according to state, county, payam (districts) and indigenous community ownership. This move would prevent encroachment by one level of authority into another's area of jurisdiction, and land could be more easily allotted to non-indigenous individuals than it is now.

There are also exceptions over who should control land ownership. In traditional counties, authority should rest with local inhabitants, whereas residence should be open to everyone in state capitals.  

This aspect is critical in Juba, where a three-way administrative disagreement exists among the Government of South Sudan (GoSS), the state government of Central Equatoria State, and the indigenous Bari community. A proposal to relocate the capital city is from Juba to Ramshel is gaining ground.  

Natural resources are at the core of many land disputes.Prof. Isaac Cuir Riak, a senior Development Consultant and Chief Executive officer of the World Bank’s Africa Development Consultancy Firm (ADCF) said the Lakes State community of Yirol County has wholeheartedly welcomed the government's plan to make Ramshel, an area within Yirol County, the new capital of the future independent South Sudan.

Meanwhile, consultations are underway to determine whether the state government of Central Equatoria in Juba to transfer to another town, or if GoSS will make its new capital in Ramshel.

Land ownership issues are numerous and diverse, ranging from land inheritance denied to women, individual land disputes, and various government levels competing for land control. While only a small part of the population is in legal possession of land today, these people should be made accountable for legalising their claim to it.

It's up to GoSS to find wise and fair approaches to resolve all these issues.

Demolition of houses and shops in Juba.Some government decisions have come under severe criticism even when they may have been appropriate. The 2009 demolition of areas occupied by squatters in Juba is a fitting example. Few citizens welcomed the move at first because it displaced thousands of residents.

On the other hand, the demolitions created a setting conducive to development that impeded criminal activity in the densely populated estates of Nyakuron and Juba town centre. Today, more citizens appreciate the transition.

It may take time for the government to win public approval for such measures, but it should not be discouraged by criticism if it can justify its decisions in the name of progress, even when it is part of human nature to resist change.