South Sudan army says land grabbing not official policy
March 16, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s national army, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), has distanced itself from reports charging that some of its soldiers and officers have been grabbing land in and around Juba in a manner indicative of the practice having become an official policy of the government and the army.
“We have said time and again that these allegations of land grabbing, which some people have been trying to associate with SPLA has not been our practice. It is not the policy of the SPLA as the army of South Sudan to grab land. If there are individual soldiers and officers involving in this practice, we ask members of the general public and particularly those affected by the unruly and unfriendly behaviour to quickly bring up the matter to the attention of our relevant offices at the general headquarters,” General Mawut said in an interview with Sudan Tribune on Wednesday.
“I am sure the deputy chief of general staff for administration and finance would be able to handle it. I am sure he would work to find an appropriate office to look into these allegations and take appropriate measures to address the matter if it is established that those involved are active SPLA members,” he assured.
Mawut also confirmed reports that a joint military command from the Republican Guards known as Tiger Division, under the overall command of Major General Marial Chanuong, together with the guards of General Thomas Cirillo, have forcefully recovered land previously and illegally grabbed by some SPLA elements in Buduge village located east of Rejaf at the outskirts of the national capital, Juba.
The village is a home to the deputy chief of general staff for training, Lieutenant General Thomas Cirillo.
The commander of presidential guards force division, General Chanuong, last week visited the area and reportedly ordered the arrest of the ring leaders for what he described as irresponsible act that would have nearly caused an eruption of a bloody conflict between the members of ethnic Bari from the area and those from Dinka ethnic group who illegally attempted to acquire and own the land in the area.
It remains unclear how the issue developed and escalated to a high level tension between the two communities. Sources have been giving conflicting accounts. Military sources say the problem surfaced after General Thomas Cirillo, himself an ethnic Bari, reportedly protested the act at a meeting with the top SPLA generals, including the chief of general staff, Paul Malong Awan, at the general headquarters in Bilpham, north of Juba town.
It was reportedly in this meeting where General Cirillo was allegedly seen displaying his anger at the manner in which people have moved into his village and warned he would leave the army and go to the bush to fight against land grabbing.
As a result of his anger and threats, the army command instead decided to launch an operation against the land grabbers, who reportedly come from the Dinka ethnic groups of Bor and Padang.
(ST)