Seven killed in clash between communities from Lakes and W. Equatoria
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By Manyang Mayom
March 14, 2011 (RUMBEK) - Clashes between pastoralists of Yirol West
county of Lakes state and agriculturalists from Mvollo county of
Western Equatoria have killed seven and injured five, according to a
local official.
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Youth members dancing in Rumbek (ST File)
Makur Kulang Liei, county commissioner of Yirol West County, said that
the five injured people who sustained gunshot wounds were being
treated at Mapuordit hospital. So far it has not been possible to
confirm how many were the numbers of injured and killed from side of
Mvolo County of Western Equatoria state.
Kulang called upon the “people of Western Equatoria and Lakes state
government to address this situation urgently – we are one party
people and one system people for South Sudan – we are one constitution
with people of Western Equatoria, no need to kill ourselves”.
South Sudan is due to become independent in July after a referendum
earlier this year, as part of a 2005 peace deal with Khartoum. Despite
the peace agreement violence, often related to cattle raiding, is
still common in South Sudan with still well armed communities
competing for resources.
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Rumbek cattle keeper remote cattle camp in 2010 (ST)
Anitphas Wanyin, a young man from Yirol West County who witnessed the
fighting said that the clashes occurred between pastoralists from the
Anuol and Mapuordit districts and Mvollo farmers over grassing land.
He told Sudan Tribune that the fighting erupted after a policeman,
Mathet Dak Abongbar, was “shot dead on his motorcycle.” Young men from
Yirol West have blamed the murder of members of the Jur tribe from
Mvollo county, Wanyin said.
On Sunday the governor of Lakes state Chol Tong Mayay and Yirol West
County commissioner Makur Kulang Liei visited the area and said that
the situation has returned to normal.
Col. Santo Domic, the Lakes state security advisor to Lakes state’s
governor said that the ongoing conflict around Mapuordit Payam of
Yirol West County is a clash between two cultures and not due to
cattle raiding rustling.
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>From left Makur Kulang Liei commissioner of Yirol West county and
right Lakes state governor Chol Tong Mayay (ST)
Domic said that the tension between the two neighboring communities of
Mvolo in Western Equatoria state and Yirol West in Lakes state is not
new. In February, 10 people were killed in a misunderstanding after
members from Yirol West County went looking for pastures for their
cattle in Mvolo County.
He attributed the current tension to a failure in reconciliation
between the two cultures.
The security official stated that Lakes government has deployed some
300 security officers to a joint force combined with Western Equatoria
forces to the area to study the root causes of the conflict.
He appealed to the people of South Sudan to change their mindset of
using violence as a way of resolving issues, proposing universal
education that empowers people to realize the negative effects of
violence. He called for unity of the different tribes of South Sudan,
insisting that dialogue is the best way to resolve differences.
(ST)
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