In early March Dominic Galuak travelled from a village in Unity state to Juba, hoping to arrive the next day. He was responding to a circulated order that the governor of Central Equatoria State, Maj. Gen. Clement Wani Konga had issued asking all individuals who occupy plots in the city center without legal documents to vacate their plots. Little did Galuak know that on the same day of his departure a bull dozer in the company of the military police and wildlife personals was already headed to Kator residential area, a suburb to the West of Juba city along the Nile river bank where Galuak had his house.

Artisitic impression of the new city showing administrative buildings, State House, residential zone and sports zone.The bull dozer rolled on the buildings and the various huts and tents that had been put up by squatters. After a few hours, a large part of the area was demolished. By the time Galuak arrived at the area, all that was left of the home he claims was worth 20,000 Sudanese Pounds (approx. $7,000), was wood, timber and iron sheets curled up in lumps of dry mud. His television screen, tables, shelves and beddings were mixed up in pieces of bamboos.

 

The move by the central equatorial state authorities was designed to chase off squatters and to allow for planned urban development. As the government attempts to accommodate its growing population, more demolitions are expected.

Juba has been the headquarters for Southern Sudan High Executive Council since a peace agreement was signed in 1972 between the rebelling south and the ruling north. In 2005, after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the two sides was signed, Juba became the regional capital.

Since then the population in the city has doubled from an estimated 25,000 people in 2005 to more than 50,000 in 2011. The population pressure has also caused land disputes between the original owners, the Bari, who feel that their land is being grabbed, and land seekers who feel they are not welcomed in Juba.

These disputes are amongst the numerous reasons why some feel that Juba is not a viable capital for the new Republic of South Sudan.

According to Professor Cuir Riak, a Senior Development Consultant and Chief Executive Officer at African Development Consultancy Firm (ADCF), Juba is too congested to restructure to suit the needs of its evolving population.

The roads in the city, he says, are too narrow to manage the high traffic characteristic of a national capital and there are few existing water pipes that have been laid since 2005. “So it would be very costly to have new water system, new power and many other things that are needed for a capital,” explains Prof. Riak.

“A capital to be exact must reflect the face of us all, and should be about tomorrow in cases of modernization, expansion and urban planning. Juba has zero on the aforementioned situations in few or more years to come,” adds fellow Professor Isaiah Abraham. “The city capital among other things should be a place where the national government can spread out its ‘wings’ freely without being stopped by someone who runs with one piece of a law leaving others hanging.”

In a February report, the Investment Minister, Gen. Oyai Deng Ajak, explained that in order for the capital to remain in Juba, an evaluation commission would need to be set up to assess various plots and special funds would be needed to compensate people for their land.

Artistic impression of the State House and administrative buildings.Accordingly, he said, litigation and court cases from people objecting to the appropriation and evaluation of their properties would trigger immense negative reactions towards the government’s decisions, especially after independence. Moreover, the time and debate required for issuing new laws in addition to the contentious long court processes would mean delay to set up a lasting system in an independent south.

“The aggregate of the re-planning and construction costs will be too high if compared to fresh building operations,” said Deng Ajak. “Furthermore, for the purpose of National Security, the Government of South Sudan (GoSS) would need a secured area for its security installations and development.  As such, a new location would serve a strategic purpose of promoting integrated business, industrial development and investment as well as increased security.”

As a result southern leaders have now resolved to shift the capital from Juba to one of two proposed sites under study.

One of the proposed sites is Ramshiel in Lakes state, bordering Jonglei to the West, and an enclave between Central Equatoria, Eastern Equatoria, Jonglei and Lakes state.

Ramshiel is inhabited by the pastoral Chiech community of ethnic Dinka. The people practice small crop farming on highlands in rainy season and in the dry season they move to “toch” (wetlands along the river Nile) with their cattle.

Because of the pastoral nature of their life, land ownership is more communal than individual. Consequently, if the community needs to give up land, it is expected that land dispute and sense of land grabbing will be minimal.

However, a 2006 report issued by the Balkan Consultancy group highlighted that the area had a terrain depression whereby the latitude is a few meters below the level of the river basin. As a result the area, said the report, may be vulnerable to flooding and swamps and is consequently unsuitable for development. Ramshiel, said the report, “does not have sufficient and favorable surface capacity to sustain future development and extension of the capital city.”

Professor Cuir, however, dismisses the content of Balkan Consultancy report as false. “That is not the Ramshiel we know,” he says. “Maybe they were shown a different Ramshiel. The one we know is surrounded by five mountains and that area is very solid rock. There is no way it can be swampy.”

The Balkan Consultancy firm then proposed the area that lies across the Nile, spanning from Rajaf East (mouth of Kit River) in the south and extends eastwards to Ngangala, Khor Ingliz, Longairo in the east of Juba. It then extends northwards through Lafon to cover southern grasslands of Jonglei State. To the west it mainly borders the Nile from Rajaf to Mangalla and northwards to Pariak, a few miles north of Bor town, the Jonglei state capital. This area is approximately 19,000 sq kilometers and would be curved from the four states of Central Equatoria, Eastern Equatoria, Jonglei and Lakes. An indigenous population of approximately 500, 000 people would fall within the premises of this proposed capital.

A site in RamshielThe Balkan report added that if the capital were to be relocated here the communities of Bari, Dinka Bor, Dinka Aliab, Lolobo, Lokaya, Mundari and Peri would be among those who would benefit the most. “These communities would profit from increased access to water and grazing for their livestock aside from increased employment opportunities and provision of social services and amenities,” said the report.

Since the proposed location lies at the intersection of four of the ten states of southern Sudan, it means that the center of administration would be near many southern communities, which would bring numerous advantages in mitigating inter-tribal conflict and promoting unity among southern Sudanese tribes.

It is also argued that the area proposed is large enough to allow easy access to land by nationals and foreign investors, thus increasing the sense of ownership of the capital by all southern Sudanese.

No definite estimate of the cost of building a new capital has been determined, but according to Housing and Infrastucture  Minister Jemma Nunu Kumba, it should approximate $10 billion.

The amount that will be needed for the infrastructure for phase one would be partially born by the government and the rest to be raised from donor countries or through loans from World Bank and IMF. The development of phase two and three would be financed from the sales of plots and new developments.