By Charles K Mark
Juba County Commissioner Central Equatoria State on Wednesday disclosed names of some powerful people who are allegedly involved in grabbing land in the county.
Eng. Charles Joseph Wani furiously spoke to the media after an urgent call by local chiefs of Molobor Boma of Lado Payam, Juba County, over atrocities of land grabbing.
He revealed that there are powerful and seemingly untouchable insiders in the system that collaborate with the criminals to terrorize communities by forcefully taking their land.
“Justin Kulang is a colonel in the National Security Service. Kiir is a Lt. Colonel. And there is one called Mou Mou, who is also a brigadier on the north side of Mangala. And Agwele Elio is a member of parliament, calls himself a chief in Jebel Dinka,” Wani relieved.
He claims having evidence of land distribution by clique.
The commissioner said the few mentioned and others behind-the-scene officials make the government look like there is no system, even when it exists.
Mr. Wani said the well-coordinated and collaborative activities occur within the network of some powerful generals.
“I don’t want to hide this one today because it is becoming too much. It happened in Mangala too; once I went and was ambushed by one of the generals, I got out of the vehicle, and I told him I am coming here as the government. So you cannot stop me,” the County recounted.
During the land-grabbing operations, the land mafias tactically create a set of fears to disband the landowners by shooting at them.
According to Commissioner Wani, they (the land grabbers) go to the villages, burn some houses, displace the villagers, and then occupy the land.
Like what happened in Lado Payam, a fence erected by the community to prevent trespasses was recently destroyed, and residents’ shelters were burned down and owners dislodged, Wani said.
He called upon the Chief of Defense Forces (CDF) of the SSPDF to discipline some of the generals and officers found involved in the unlawful act.
Wani further urged the inspector general of police (IGP), Gen. Atem Marol Biar, to discipline the syndicated chain of criminals in his unit of police involved in the criminal activities in Juba County.
The county head wondered why many of the arrested suspects in the land dispute ended up being set free after a brief remand.
“Why are they released if they are not collaborating? I want to see that all criminals arrested are being investigated and taken to prison. There are many criminals who were taken to prison but released just after two weeks. I have the evidence to prove that,” Wani threatened.
Meanwhile, Justin Erasto Ibrahim, Director of Lado Payam, reported that what recently happened to his residents was disturbing.
He applauded the commissioner for his immediate response and intervention when notified about the unfortunate destabilization of the area.
“I have nothing much to say, but I would love to register my sincere gratitude to the commissioner for his fast response to this call,” Erasto expressed.
However, No. 1 Citizen Daily Newspapers could not independently verify the allegations against the named individual, at press time.