Displaced people acquire land ownership rights in Ezo County

By Johnson Juma Batal

Over 39,500 people displaced by conflict in Tambura County to Ezo County have been provided with plots of land, Ezo commissioner, Abel Sudan said.

Each IDP was given a plot of land measuring 35 by 30 meters per household, Sudan told Juba Echo by phone on Thursday.

“The IDPs who are here in Ezo are not even willing to go back to Tambura, they are here now carrying farming activities and caring for their families,” he said.

Those who were provided the land were all displaced last year, Sudan said, adding that many continue to trickle daily to the county for relief assistance from nongovernmental organisations based in Ezo.

The county is able to accommodate, protect and direct the IDPs in farming activities so as to avoid dependency on aid only, he said.

Mary Anibui, a displaced mother of six who acquired a plot of land told Juba Echo that it has rested her worries.

“I was just running with my kids not knowing where they will sleep but just for their life, when I and my kids reached Ezo is when I realized that we don’t have shelter, but I am now happy that we have a plot here,” Anibui said.

Also, for Gaaniko Santo, a 34-year-old IDP, the plot will help him engage in farming.

“I am a great farmer and in this farming season, I will use this land to cultivate a lot of food for me and my family,” Santo told Juba Echo.