By Yiep Joseph
Central Equatoria State Minister of Lands, Housing, and Public Utilities, David Morbe Aquilino, refuted allegations leveled against him and the state government on grabbing Church land in Munuki.
On Sunday, Reverend Paul Samuel Paul, Parish Priest of St. Stephen Episcopal Church in Munuki, accused the Central Equatoria State government of demolishing church buildings in an attempt to seize church land.
Reverend Paul rebuked the state government for allegedly planning to demarcate church land to individuals.
Addressing the media while handing over the area to the residents for them to follow up on their land titles, Minister Morbe denied any involvement in land grabbing.
He stated that the dispute was between the church and the residents of the area.
He emphasized that the state government does not engage in land grabbing but rather fights land grabbers to ensure the fair and legal distribution of land to the people.
The Minister also denied the involvement of National Security forces in the land dispute, clarifying that the state government was requested to provide services to residents who have lived in the area for years.
“There were a lot of allegations that the minister came with the National Security and opened roads and demolished a church building. This was at the request of the residents, and the government came and witnessed the process. We did not bring National Security, and we did not demolish a church. This is not true,” Mr. Morbe asserted.
“He (the priest) said the Christians were caught by surprise. I remember when the minister came here, the residents welcomed us with brooms and mingling sticks, singing and dancing because services were coming to their area. Many officials spoke in that committee, and it was all documented,” he added.
Mr. Morbe refuted the claim that the state government demolished church land, stating that the church remains in place for the believers to use as usual.
“We did not come with a bulldozer, we did not come with national security, and we did not demolish the church. As you can see, the church is standing; it is untouched,” the Minister affirmed.
He further stated that the Central Equatoria State (CES) government is willing to cooperate with the church and is ready to allocate more land to the church should they require it for investment.
“We are standing with the church to give them more land if they need it; they should submit a request to us,” he said.
The Minister called on churches to differentiate between church land and investment land.
“We urge the church to differentiate between Church land and investment land. We shall give land for the church, and those who need land for investment should indicate that they need investment land for the church; these should not be mixed,” he urged.
On the other hand, some residents of the Gezira Residential Area in Munuki dismissed the Episcopal Church of South Sudan’s land-grabbing allegations against the government.
Cecilia Beneth, a resident of Gezira and an immediate neighbor of the church, accused the church leaders of trying to use the church to acquire land for their personal benefit.
“The church is for everyone, and it has no problem; it is we, the people, who are at fault, and the pastors that are brought here are taking the church as a business,” she explained. “It is known that this place is for the residents of the Gezira residential area, but now the people who are the leaders, like the parish priest, are the ones who want to do business in the name of the church in this place,” she expressed.
She commended the Central State government for rescuing the residents from losing their land to individuals using the church’s name.
Benjamin Bali Simon, Chairperson of the Gezira residential area, recounted how the church was established in his residential area, emphasizing that it fully belonged to the residents.
He alleged that even the plot number on the map that the church claims as authentic is a forged document.