(Left) Yei commissioner, Denis Lasuba, and his Lainya County counterpart, Eresto Taban, after taking their oatHs of office at the state secretariate in November this year.
Thorough consultations at all levels of government should be embraced to mitigate disagreements in development, Yei River state Minister for Local Government and Law Enforcement, Yongule Athanasius Lojojo, has said.
The minister said this when the new commissioner of Yei River county Denis Lasuba, who together with his Lainya county counterpart, Eresto Taban, took their oaths of office on November 18th.
Athanasius explained that with the creation of the twenty eight states, where each governor also decreed increasing number of counties, more payams will be created.
However, he warned that such a move would need involvement of local chiefs and communities so that land-related conflicts are minimized.
“We are going to create payams; we are going to create bomas. Things should be done in consultation with the elders, the chiefs and all who are concerned in the community,” he said.
He said because of the many counties, conflicts may occur if there are no consultations before major decisions affecting people are made.
“Like Yei has created many counties, you people will be competing where about your boundaries,” he said.
He said constant consultation between commissioners and other lower levels of government would enable smooth creation of the thirteen created counties. He said that most conflicts occur due to either lack of consultations or neglect of agreed decisions.
“Let us use the elderly people who know which land belongs to where. If we add politics into it, we are going to create conflict and you know conflicts are easily created but very difficult to stop,” he said.
Because of the prevailing economic condition, he cautioned leaders and communities against creation of more counties and payams, citing shortage in resources for development of the existing ones.
He urged the new states and counties to give land for development, to avoid disagreements and entangling into unexpected competitions.
He said local governments should develop friendly strategies of dealing with traders to prevent frustration and loss of revenues.
“If we are harsh in collecting the little revenue, we are chasing these people away. You must first assess the value of the items but don’t just go there as it is a rule, ‘pay this’. You are inflicting a pain on these person,” he said.
On his part, Commissioner Denis Lasuba assured all present that he would involve all stakeholders in decision making during his term in office.