Policy Brief November 27, 2023

For example, in the event of appropriation of communal land or individual land by the government, both the Constitution, the new policy, and the Land Act 2009 entitle the communities and persons affected to “a prompt and equitable compensation on just terms arising from acquisition or development of land in their areas in the public interest.” The Constitution also stipulates that the expropriatio. [...] The third vision vests the right of ownership of land in the people of South Sudan and the right and power to regulate the ownership and usage in the government of South Sudan. [...] The disagreement is due, in part, to lack of trust in the government which is compounded by the inability of the institutions to be responsive to the needs and concerns of the communities with regards to land rights. [...] The communities also fear that the government can take over their land since the policy gives the ownership to the people which by the virtue of public trust doctrine falls under the government ownership on behalf of the people. [...] In the former, the natural resource developer leases the land from the landowner to develop and extract the resources and pays rental fees and royalties while in the latter case, the government or the resource developer pays the original landowner a compensation and some share of revenues.