A picture of cattle in Equatoria State. | Credit | Courtesy

Cattle herders have reportedly started vacating Kajo-keji area following series of persuasion by the local authorities in Central Equatoria State.

Since 2020, the indigenous communities in Kajo-Keji have been accusing the cattle keepers of causing havoc in their farmlands and homesteads.

They said the cattle keepers, who are allegedly mainly from Jonglei, started moving to the area in 2013.

A Member of Parliament representing Kajo-Keji at the state legislative assembly, Hon Jacob Kweyansuk, did tell Eye Radio that the cattle made farming impossible.

“They’re threatening the people in the area; their cattle are now moving anyhow,” Hon Kweyansuk said then.

This was despite several Presidential orders demanding the cattle keepers from Terekeka and Bor to leave arable lands in parts of Central, Eastern and Western Equatoria states.

But last week, a meeting between the community of Kajo-Keji and the cattle herders resolved that Bor pastoralists would withdraw from the areas within a week.

County Commissioner Kenyi Erasto now says that the herders are now moving out of the county, with “provocations”.

“For the last three days, one of the kraals has been seriously looting animals of the indigenous people. All I am seeing is a kind of provocation as they move,” Erasto told Eye Radio.