Authorities in Northern Bahr el Ghazal said they have three officials in police custody accused to have illegally sold public land. The accused are staff from the state ministry of physical infrastructure and rural development. It’s not clear how many plots they have sold out.
The Governor of Northern Bahr el Ghazal state Hon. Tong Akeen Ngor said he is dismayed by the allegation of mismanagement. Saying “it disregarded the law”.
Akeen said the illegal allotment of land is a fraud that has causes a lot of concerns from the public. Adding that his government has received more complaints from the community.
He said the suspects will be arraigned in court to face justice on their illegal land dealing.
Stephen Ajook is the director-general in the ministry of physical infrastructure and rural development in Northern Bahr el Ghazal state. He said the three staff that have been arrested are employees of the ministry but they acted in personal capacity and were not directed by anyone in the ministry.
“We are aware that the police have detained some of our staff; what happened is that they are accused of selling public lands and they were caught red-handed last week.”Said Stephen.
He said that a case has been opened against the individuals and will proceed to court.
Adding that currently they are not surveying any land, and there are no empty plots that the Ministry can sell out.
Some of the community members who spokes to Akol Yam 91 FM said those officials have caused many land problems in the State.
They said that the people who have been arrested are the same people you deal with when processing land documents in the ministry of infrastructure.
Deng Majok is one of the youth representative in Aweil. He said that they want the government to established a digital filing system that can help detect any duplications of plot.
Majok said that having a database system will prevent land fraud from individuals who erase other people’s names in the public record”.
Some residents in Aweil blamed the ministry of physical infrastructure and rural development as the cause of many land disputes in the State.
