Rezaigat representatives reject blood compensation from Dinka community

AWEIL – The Rezaigat community’s peace representatives have rejected the payment of money as blood compensation following the death of an Arab man in April at a border area between Sudan and South Sudan.

Speaking to Sudans Post on Tuesday, Majok Dengdit, a peace committee representative, said they offered money equivalent to 25 cows to the family of the deceased Arab man, who was killed by a South Sudan army soldier near Kak-bek, close to Kiir-Adem on the Sudanese border.

Dengdit from Gok-Machar said that they had met with the Arab nomadic peace committee to hand over the compensation, but it was outrightly refused.

“We gave them money worth 25 cows, more than 5 million SSP, but they didn’t want to receive it. They said they never want the compensation in cash, so we returned,” he stated.

Dengdit reiterated that local accords stipulate that blood compensation should be paid in money, but the refusal has raised concerns about the motives behind it.

“The local agreement states that blood compensation should be in the form of money, but this has become a different narrative now,” he noted.

“If someone refuses to abide by what the agreement says, then there is a ploy behind the scenes. We don’t want to violate the peaceful agreement we have with them, even though unscrupulous people might,” he added.

The Dinka Malual, Rezigat, and Misseriya communities have long-standing local accords that are reviewed periodically, especially during migration periods.

These agreements are often challenged by isolated incidents of violence, which the peace committees was formed in order to deal with.