Members of Bor County in Jonglei State have asked their cattle keepers in Greater Equatoria to return their livestock home.

They say this will help reduce conflicts between the pastoralists and the farming communities in Equatoria.

MPs and heads of the community say they resolved that the cattle should be returned even before the president issued a decree this month, ordering cattle keepers to return to their home states.

“The idea was not because the president has passed the decree,” said Maker Chol Adol, Member of Parliament representing Makuach Payam constituency in the state assembly.

“The issue is that before the President could make that decree, we unanimously agreed that all the cattle, wherever they are in Western Equatoria, Eastern Equatoria, Bahr el Ghazal, are supposed to come home.

“This is what we have agreed as a community, as politicians, as elders of this community.”

Mr Chol said if pastoralists disobey the order, they should be taken back to Jonglei by force.

“We think that it is the right time for our people to go back because there has been a lot of explanation labeled on them – that their cows destroy farms, and even the beehives, that they interfere with normal lives of the local people in Equatoria,” said Professor Ajuoi Magot, chairperson of the Bor County community.

Professor Chol said the pastoralists will also help provide security in the area when they return home.

Local chiefs from Bor County have been sent to the cattle camps to sensitize all cattle keepers on how they may return in peace.