Report by SalaaMedia
The obstruction work since the onset of war on April 15, 2023, has led to cessation of most service institutions across Darfur region, including land departments in all five states. Following the seizure of four out five states in the region by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the situation has worsened, especially as thousands have been displaced by the conflict, abandoning their residential and agricultural lands.
Status of Land Offices
East Darfur remains the only state where institutions have not been destroyed by the ongoing war, which erupted across the region in its early days. An independent journalist based in Ed Daein reports that land records in East Darfur remain intact, as they were safeguarded at the courthouse in the state’s capital. However, land offices in the other Darfur states, containing crucial records and documents, have been affected, like many other government facilities which were subjected destruction and looting.
Deals and Forgery
SalaaMedia team has observed that, despite the conflict’s impact on land registries across most states, lands deals related continued except in East Darfur, where official processes are limited to legal documentation processed by lawyers upon witnesses present. According to an Independent Journalist in Ed Daein, land deals in the state are confined to legal transfers and proxy authorizations. The judicial system halted operations after RSF took over the state’s Army Headquarters, prompting the Chief Justice to withdraw judges and suspend courts proceedings. Meanwhile previous land disputes before the court remained unsolved, while – in accordance to the Independent Journalist, Native Administration undertakes some cases and drop others for not falling within their jurisdiction “”the Native Administration has been postponing looking into land-related issues, considering them out of its jurisdiction”.
Another Journalist from Ed Daein explained that, after the cessation of judiciary in East Darfur, land deals are currently handled by lawyers. He added, “sales deals are done through power of attorney, landowners waiver ownership to buyers, upon guarantees and witnesses are provided by the lawyers.”
However, in South Darfur, land deals continued, including buying and selling; A Land Dealer in Nyala disclosed that, there are no procedures to legalize land registrations, instead there are forged documents. He stated, “We now see fake Title Deeds and forged ownership documents in the market.”
Amidst the war, West Darfur’s land department resumed issuing Title Deeds, without communicating with federal authorities – an anonymous Journalist in Geneina testified, by questioning “how such certificates are still being issued amidst disrupted federal coordination?”
Similarly, in Central Darfur Lands Administration Authorities never ceased operation. A lawyer in Zalingei revealed that certain land acquisitions are based on illegally obtained documents stolen from the courthouse. He mentioned that a specific court division in Zalingei is currently working to adjudicate land cases. In North Darfur, which is previously controlled by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), the status of lands issues is not different than the other states. However, lands procedures across the state have been suspended following the war’s outbreak, like most civil services elsewhere in Sudan. A Former Senior Official in the state’s Land Administration Authority noted that, a housing plan south of Al Fashir, known as the Southern District or “Qoz Damirga,” was proposed but civilians didn’t show enough response due to cash shortages. However, other types of land dealings, like mortgages, donations, sales, and title transfers, continued until July 14, 2024. He confirmed that while there are no active land courts, except title registries continue to function, and most land disputes settlements are managed by the Native Administration and landholders.
Lands Grappling and Disputes
A previous report by SalaaMedia highlighted widespread corruption on lands in Nyala, specifically involving abandoned homes whose owners had fled due to the war. Many of these houses were reportedly sold with forged documents. An Official from South Darfur Lands Administration Authority mentioned seeing instances of illegal sales involving abandon properties, particularly in neighborhoods like Drieg and Texas in southern Nyala. The official also reported land disputes in localities like As Salam and Beleil, with cases of land grappling, unauthorized leasing of peoples’ farms in absence of any authority where actual landowners could file complaints.
East Darfur has never experienced any incidents of lands disputes or stealing of documents due to the preservation of records in the land court, which has not been affected by the war. The only exception is longstanding dispute over Ad-Daein’s Cultural Center, which has been allocated by the authorities as commercial plots, according to a Journalist from Ad Daein requested anonymity. He said, “this dispute happened because of past decisions, which people are contesting in order to reallocate the commercial plots to Ad Daein’s youth”. The Independent Journalist in Ad Daein shared that, Native Administration have been handling some land disputes cases in the absence of judicial oversight, and thus, East Darfur escaped land conflicts, apart from the Cultural Center case.
West Darfur faces similar challenges to South Darfur with cases of document forgery, in the presence of an emergency court in Geneina looking into numerous cases, including land disputes. The local government also continues issuing Title Deeds. The Journalist from Geneina confirmed ongoing land-related disputes but pointed out that lands with certified ownership are more secure.
The situation is very different in Central Darfur State, which has witnessed many land disputes since the outbreak of war. Some families in Zalingei were forced out of their homes, which has been seized by others at gunpoint, according to a Lawyer in Zalingei who spoke to Salaamedia; “A family was forced to leave their home in Al-Wihdah neighborhood, north of Zalingei, and move to another house in Al-Thawra neighborhood”. He pointed out that some people were able to steal documents for residential lands belonging to others and sell them, while others were forced to give up their lands before lawyers.
In this similar context, somehow, it is uneasy to compare the occurrences in other states to North Darfur, where there are records of documents theft in Al Fashir. The Former Senior Official in the state’s Land Administration Authority, suggested disputes might emerge in outlying areas beyond government control. “I haven’t encountered any deceptive dealings personally, but if such cases exist, they will likely appear in land registries in courts,” he stated.
Land disputes have long been a recurring issue in Darfur and rooted in what some legal experts describe as exploitative laws that powerful figures within the state have leveraged to encroach on citizens’ lands. Land conflicts in Darfur are often intertwined with ethnic and tribal divisions, a legacy exacerbated by the current war. This situation raises pressing questions about the future of land ownership in the post-conflict region, especially if current procedures of land allocation, regulation, and registration continue amid the chaos.