Firstly - the communities have owned the land since time immemorial. They were on the ground long before the colonialists and more so before the government of South Sudan. Therefore, the government has no right to decide who owns the land because that decision had been taken centuries ago.

Secondly - Kiir is a de facto President who was never elected to the Presidency. Hence, he lacks the mandate to make a decision that would affect the livelihood of millions of the South Sudanese people.

Thirdly - The National Legislative Assembly (NLA), on its part, is unelected and thus is devoid of mandate from the people.

The DRM and the oppressed people of South Sudan do not recognise this government's decision. For citizens who have lost their land and those about to have their land grabbed due to the recent decision, the DRM tells them not to lose hope and fall into despair. The people will eventually rise, and the tyrant will be held accountable. The land will always belong to the communities.

It's time for the Mundari youths at the time when their villages are being burned, the Bari youths whose ancestral land is being grabbed before their eyes, the Ma'adi and Acholi youths whose communities have been driven out of their homes by the Dinka Bor militia, the Toposa youths in the Kapoeta area where alien forces have encroached on their land, the Murle youths who have been battling the regime for almost a decade, the Anyuak youths whose communities have been devastated by the recent attacks by the SSPDF using helicopter-gunships, the Chollo Youths where history is being rewritten to rob them of their land, and the Azande and Blanda youths whose communities have been reeling from a proxy war imposed upon them by the government – to unite in the face of the existential threat that they are facing. The DRM further calls upon all these youth groups and other like-minded political organisations to join hands in a coalition to remove the regime from power and restore peace, justice, and equality in our beloved homeland.