Exploring Natural Resources and Attendant Conflicts of Interests across South Sudan
By Philip Ayuen Dot, Nairobi, Kenya
Thursday, July 23, 2020 (PW) — Human beings since time in memorial have always fought over the control of vital natural resources. This is because communities require resources to be able to develop and meet their own needs. But with time people usually realize that conflicts are costly and furthermore, they hinder the utilization of the same resources being fought over. This has led to countries laying down laws and procedures for utilizing natural resources found in their borders in a way that ensures peace and sustainable and equitable sharing of resources.
However, South Sudan, has many pending issues at hand regarding natural resources. This means that South Sudan is far away from setting up regulations and policies to address conflicts of interests over natural resources. Conflicts over natural resources are the norms in what has become a battle for survival. Human beings are defined by interests, greed and competition based on how to meet the needs. To bring this point home, I will highlight previous issues that arose due to competition over natural resources and why it is important to give close attention to these issues to avoid future predicaments.
On June 3, 2020, seven people were shot to death at Shirikat suburb in juba. This prompted the youth to respond in protest and acted against the person who unlawfully caused the deaths of innocent civilians. In carrying out a little research on what brought this random shooting, it was found out to be related to the land. The police had to step in and calmed done the situation with hope of investigating the issue. The killing was over a piece of land that involved Lt Colonel Lual Akook Wol, an influential person, who was not expected to get involved in issues of land grabbing. The allegation stated that he was attempting to grab cemetery land at Shirikat, and the residents around that area did not like the idea.
The residents rejected his claim over the ownership of the land through the court of law. The jurisdiction did its part and the general breached the decision by taking law into his hands, causing the shooting and ended up in painful death of innocent civilians. This, however, brought high tension in city and spread into the communities. As a result, the investigative committee was formed by His Excellency President Salva Kiir to investigate the matter.
Alol village in Lake State Wulu County has Uranium and Mercury and the communities are fighting over ownership. Tali in Terekeka County, Mandari land, is being claimed by neighboring community of Lake State people and correlated to the availability of Coltan and diamond. There is a dispute over ownership of Malakal by Shilluk and Dinka Apadang because of urbanization. Lankien in Nyirol County is being claimed by both Dinka and Nuer over its arable land, which is good for subsistence farming and causing conflict between the communities. Abyei has Oil and grassland causing conflict between South Sudan and Sudan, leading to killing of innocent civilians in Abyei.
On the other hand, Lakes State has water resources (swampy land) and land disputes arose causing the country huge loses in many years. In Jonglei State, Dinka Bor and Murle are not in good terms because of differences related to the pastures, grassland and cattle raiding. It is an ongoing problem now and President Kiir intervened by forming a committee to bring most wanted peace in the region, and it is led by Vice President (Dr. James Wani) in the frontline with fishing mission for tranquility. There are several conflicts and fighting within Jonglei State over land and swampland issues.
For instance, Kolnyang constituency experienced the worst incident ever of 21st Century and it is connected to dispute over land ownership. It is the latest victim over land related problem, and the death toll ended up in 40 plus persons. This was between Abii community. It is still unsolved though the ruling issue by the Tribunal court, formed by former Governor Aguer Panyang, recognized ” who” has the rightful name of the land. Therefore, the result of this case, is still unpredictable.
On the other hand, Bahr el Ghazal region (Warrap State, Western Bahr el Ghazal, and Norther Bahr el Ghazal) has not been spared. It is another hotspot of continued conflicts between community against community, Natural Resources are at the center of attention of intercommunity conflicts in South Sudan, the BIG question is: will it be wise for Shirkat and jonglei president’s committees to continue resolve the issues pertaining natural resources conflicts across the country for peaceful South Sudan or not?
All these and many more are some of the examples of continued conflict over natural resources in the country. These conflicts arise because of several reasons. The first one is that a few people want to be the sole beneficiaries of communal resources. So you find some influential people using their powers to try and grab land, oil wells, give foreign firms concessions to cut down communal forests, all in a bid to get money in their accounts at the expense of whole communities. This greed has been responsible for countless deaths.
The other reason for the continued conflict over natural resources is because the different policies, institutions and processes are not doing a good job of regulating access to resources. And this doesn’t just mean the ministry of environment alone, but the all the arms of the government. For example, when one influential person grabs a community’s land, the police and judicial arm of the government should be strong enough to apprehend them and let them face the full wrath of the law. But in the absence of a working impartial judicial system, then even the environmental laws or the laws governing the use of natural resources cannot be implemented.
This goes hand in hand with there being institutions governing the use of natural resources. These institutions should be formulated from laws that are anchored in the principle of equitable sharing of resources. For example, there should be an updated oil and petroleum law outlining properly how oil and petroleum shall be exploited in the country, which body is in charge of it, what share goes to the state government, how much goes to the national government and most importantly how much goes back to the local community. This should also be tied to how the locals shall be trained and incorporated into managing their own resources. That way everyone benefits.
The other way to reduce natural resource conflicts is to involve the community in the decision-making process of how to use resources. People shouldn’t wake up one day to find a Chinese firm cutting down the forest next to them having been given permission by the government in Juba without their knowledge. The local community is the most important shareholder when it comes to natural resources as they are a natural heritage to them. The government is only a good keeper to the resources, they thus shouldn’t overstep their mandate.
For a sustainable and equitable sharing of resources that minimizes any conflict, several things need to be considered. One, the resources should be used in a sustainable manner, this means in ways that don’t exhaust it for future generations and with minimal pollution so as to avoid pollution that harms other resources. For example, if not checked, oil pollution can render lakes and rivers useless for fishing thus leading to more conflicts. Two, equitable sharing of resources means that no community or individual gets an unfair benefit from the resources.
South Sudan should aim for use of resources that ensures that everyone benefits. This will lead to reduced loss of life and property and will immensely reduce the overall conflicts being witnessed in the country. The new governors, Ministries and government officials working in the coalition government should see to it that they lay down effective laws, policies and institutions to oversee the sustainable management of natural resources in a way that leaves everyone satisfied. Failure to do so means they shall fail in their mandate.
The author graduated from Kenyatta University, Kenya, with BSc of Environmental Science, founder of South Sudan Environmental Advocators (SSEA) and can be reached via his email: philipdot57@gmail.com
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