A cattleman herds his animals | File photo

The Deputy Governor of Tonj State says a peace conference in Tonj town over the past three days has resolved for compensation of those killed in communal fighting, return of stolen cattle, and deployment of joint forces.

Manhiem Bol says the measures are for resolving local conflicts in four states that participated: Tonj, Wau, Western Lakes and Gok.

Mr. Manhiem says the participants included the four governors, other government officials, youths and women representatives.

The participants also agreed to the deployment of “joint security forces” and “apprehension of culprits and return back of raided or looted cattle to the owners.”

Another resolution is the “establishment of border court and then compensation of the people killed.”

The participants emphasized the need for “the construction of Apier (water reservoir) along the grazing land and water catchment areas.”

“We also talked about establishing veterinary training centers for the cattle of the two states to be treated there, including the customary law that was recently passed in Gok state whereby if you kill someone intentionally you must also compensate the person. You compensate with 75 cows. So these things were discussed and we have agreed,” he said.
Mr. Manhiem urged the residents of the four states to respect the resolutions.

He said this conference would be followed by another that involves nine states in the Barh-el Gazel region, Southern Liech, Northern Liech, and the former Western Equatoria.