Matik Kueth
Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The Governor of Jonglei State, Denay Chagor, appealed for radical reforms of the judicial system in South Sudan to uproot deep-lying corrupt practises.
Chagor, who spoke during the third day of the governors’ forum at the Freedom Hall on Thursday, said a comprehensible justice system is needed in order to eradicate the on-going land grabbing in South Sudan.
“We have a justice system that says that only if you have a case in court can you survive or win the case with only two things. Number one is that you must have a politician at the top who will bulldoze the case, or you have a lot of money that you can use to bribe all the judges. It is the only way you can win a case in our country,” Chagor said.
He warned that without such reforms, the law of the jungle will continue to be used by those who think violence will solve their disputes.
“We need a justice reform in our country,” he added.
He said a number of citizens in South Sudan do not have money to bribe judges for them to win cases against people with prominent relatives working for the government.
“There are so many of our citizens that do not have money to file cases in courts or do not have relatives in government who they can go to and help them win their case,” he said.
He said that there have been requests to the chief justice to send judges to the states, but this is yet to be implemented.
Chagor argue that land issues have become a major problem in South Sudan especially in Juba, noting that majority of the citizens have lost their property due to intimidations from politicians and the army commanders.
“You have land; somebody comes with army and then displaces you. When you try to go to court, the case would be [skewed] in favour of the person. Some of our citizens across the country lost their land,” he said.
“We also have some land grabbers that need a clear justice system where at some point you can buy a land from somebody and later on you will realize that the land has been sold to five or six different people. And when you go to court you will find yourself sitting with different people claiming the same land that you bought,” he emphasized.
He noted that foreign investors could trust making their businesses in the South Sudan if there is a solid justice system is put in place in the country.
He said that most investors analyse the justice system before they can decide to invest their money for fear of losing.
“They will not get it here. So, we need to do that in order for us to attract investors,” he stated.
Chagor’s suggestion comes in the wake of persistent cases of land grabbing in Juba City, which has been blamed on politicians and top military personnel.
Source: The City Review South Sudan
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