High Court halts Nyamini demarcation after Bari leaders challenge Nyangwara land claim

A long-running dispute over land in Nyamini, northwest of Juba, has taken a new turn after the High Court in Kator ordered a halt to the demarcation of about 32 square kilometres of contested land. The order, issued on September 4, 2026, restrains demarcation of the disputed Nyamini area pending the determination of the substantive case before the court. The case is registered as JOSS/CES/J/K/CIV. S No. 55/2026, with Olimpio Lokudu Pitia and others as plaintiffs and Sultan Emmanuel Juma Khalifa and Sultan Roman Lodu-Denis as defendants. Importantly, the order does not determine ownership of Nyamini. It does not declare the land to belong to either the Nyangwara-Pojulu-Tijor community or the Bari community. Instead, it temporarily restrains demarcation while the court considers the underlying dispute.

That distinction is significant because the court order comes after more than a year of protests, petitions and government directives over land demarcation and allocation in the area. From protests to court The immediate background goes back to May 2025, when community leaders in the Nyamini and Lodimi areas announced the allocation of more than 22,700 plots for residential and investment purposes. At the time, Olimpio Lokudu Pitia, identified by Eye Radio as chairman of Ku’da Lodimi Boma, said the development initiative had originally been planned for 2020 but had been delayed by disputes between neighbouring areas. He described Nyamini as land open to South Sudanese from all communities. The announcement, however, triggered opposition from members of the Nyangwara-Pojulu-Tijor community, who argued that the land remained disputed and that their representatives had been excluded from the allocation process. In early June 2025, Nyangwara-Pojulu-Tijor leaders petitioned the…