Peace Commission expresses concern over herders-farmers conflict in the Magwi 

JUBA – South Sudan Peace and Reconciliation Commission’s Chairperson, Chuol Rambang Luoth has expressed concerns over herders-farmers conflict in the Magwi County of Eastern Equatoria State which left more than 23 people dead.

On 11th May, more than 23 people mostly women, children and elderly were killed, and a dozen others wounded during an attack on a cattle camp in Mugali Payam.

About 3,450 heads of cattle were looted and 52 others were killed during a deadly attack which displaced hundreds of people in the area.

The attacks were carried out by suspected Murle armed raiders from the Greater Pibor area, according to Eastern Equatoria State Governor Louis Lobong Lojore.

Speaking to reporters during a press conference on Friday at the peace commission’s head office in Jebel, Rambang urged herders and farmers to embrace peace to pave the way for reconciliation.

“The Commission condemned these attacks in the strongest terms possible and called upon groups involved to lay down their weapons and come together to embrace peace and reconciliation,” Rambang said.

“These attacks continue to happen despite several government interventions to stop them, such as presidential order for evacuation of cattle from Eastern Equatoria, Magwi County.”

In 2017, South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir issued a decree ordering cattle keepers to move all their livestock out of the greater Equatoria region.

A committee was also set up to ensure that the animals were returned to their respective states.

However, the decree has not been effectively implemented as armed cattle keepers continue to roam the region.

He called on security organs and organized forces to enforce the implementation of the presidential directive for evacuation of cattle to their areas of origin.

“I call upon various government agencies and organized forces to respect all presidential directives to resolve these conflicts and other conflicts by fully enforcing their implementation,” he said.

He said these conflicts undermine the country’s transition to stability and the implementation of the 2018 peace deal.

“These conflicts undermine the genuine transition to stability as well as implementation of the Revitalized Peace Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan.”

He called on warring communities to abandon violence and seek a path to peace.

“South Sudan Peace and Reconciliation Commission calls on all parties to these conflicts and the entire South Sudan population to abandon violence and seek the path of peace to end the suffering of our people, tormented by decades of unrest,” he said.