Arrow boys get aid from Yambio chiefs
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By Richard Ruati
April 30, 2011 (YAMBIO) – The paramount chief of Yambio county who is
also the chairperson of traditional authorities in Western Equatoria’s
ministry of local government Chief Wilson Peni disclosed that, 25
April he received donations from chiefs of Yambio County as
humanitarian aid support.
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A group of displaced women wait registration under mango tree in Nzara
county, 2010 (Richard Ruati)
Chiefs in Yambio county have resorted to taking contributions to
support the home guards commonly known as the arrow boys or village
vigilantes to boost their operations against the Lord’s Resistance
Army (LRA).
The LRA is a militia originally from northern Uganda. They have been
the scourge of the region for many years, mutilating, raping,
murdering and abducting citizens.
Arrow boys are local militias who have taken up arms to defend their
communities from the LRA.
Peni said that “chiefs of Yambio have so far collected over 21,000
Sudanese pounds [US$7,860] from communities of Yambio county, 89
buckets of maize corn, 108 buckets of dura [sorghum], 150 buckets of
cassava flour, 129 buckets of groundnuts [peanuts], 19 bottles of
termite oil, 10 packets of table salt, and 18 bottles of honey.”
Village chiefs conducted the exercise of small donations over a three
week period.
He added that “the contribution comes as a result of the failure of
the Government of Southern Sudan [GOSS] to release the 5 million
Sudanese pounds which was approved by the South Sudan legislative
assembly to the arrow boys.”
The chief mentioned that as it is time for cultivation, the home
guards have vowed to provide protections to their communities to
enable them cultivate this year to bolster food supply.
“The small contribution will assist increase the morale of the home
guards to comb the bush in new tactics that they have devised against
the LRA” he said.
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A former LRA captive being receiving after his escape, 2009 (Richard Ruati)
He stated that the scarcity of attacks by the LRA suggests that the
arrow boys have almost finished the cruel fighters, hence those
remaining are only “looking for food and survival, therefore we cannot
give them chance to feed on our food any longer.”
Peni pointed out that the utilisation of the money will be decided by
a committee which was already formed, so that the cash is used
appropriately and will foster their operations and the food items will
be distributed to the home guards at their various camps.
The chief also said that he will tell all the chiefs around Yambio “to
contribute with manpower nine youth members and hunters who are
environmental-friendly with the dense forest of WES.”
“As a new tactic I will also call upon the nearby counties, like
Nzara, Ibba, and Ezo to send more hunters so that we join together and
comb the bush once and for all,” stressed Peni.
He disclosed that “Yambio County has been attacked over 18 times this
year,” adding that “it seems the target of the LRA is now the state
headquarters; therefore the focal point is Yambio.”
Most women and girls from Western Equatoria state who have been
abducted and retained by the LRA are taken to serve as "wives" for the
LRA commanders.
According to Gloria Isani a former captive “those who do not comply
with the sexual demands made on them are beaten or killed.”
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Members of arrow boys display their welded weapons in Ezo, 2009 (Richard Ruati)
Eyewitness tell harrowing stories of the babies which have been born
in the LRA camps, and for those young women who would otherwise try to
escape and return to their families, the social stigma of having
become pregnant under such circumstances adds to their reluctance and
fear to return home.
“It is the first step that we have taken, therefore it is now the
responsibility of every son and daughter of the state in their various
capacities and places worldwide to contribute for the welfare of
citizens of the state” he appealed.
Peni urged the communities of Yambio county who have not contributed
“to at least give something that will let the state solve the LRA
issue forever more specially this year.”
He also called upon the GoSS to release the money which was approved
by the regional assembly to foster military action in the fight
against the insurgencies of the LRA rebels.
During the Equatoria conference 2011, in Juba, one of the resolutions
was the follow up of the SDG5 million, which was approved by the
regional assembly by the three governors of Equatoria.
The vice president of GoSS, Riek Machar Teny, in his closing remarks
at the Equatoria conference in Juba on the 16 April 2011 disclosed
that “the former Joint Integrated Units (JIUs) will be deployed in
Western Equatoria to beef up security of the state.
However, there has been criticism against government from citizens of
Western Equatoria, many of whom still remember the 2007 incident when
three senior police officers were shot dead in Yambio. Members of the
JIU were blamed for the killings but no one has ever been tried.
Together with their allies, the Ugandan army have been pursuing the
LRA fighters since destroying their basis in Garamba on 14 December
2008.
The military actions have failed to defeat the LRA rebels, however,
allowing them to rampage across the regions of Southern Sudan, DRC and
CAR for the past three years, leaving thousands Congolese and South
Sudanese civilians displaced, abducted and dead.
Despite the system of terror that reigns within the camps and the
deadly punishment for showing disloyalty, children do escape from the
LRA and make their way to freedom.
The African Union has also taken step to deploy joint operations
against the LRA by the members of the three affected countries,
according to their reports.
The six-year reign of violence by LRA rebels, mainly in Western
Equatoria has scattered thousands of WES citizens. Since the LRA were
dislodged from their Garamba park assembly point they stepped up
attacks and reprisal killings, burning, looting and abducting many
children and women in Western Equatoria.
(ST)
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