Luac-jang and Pakam peace dialogue in Lakes State. (Photo: Yang Ater).

A four-day peace dialogue kicked off on Monday among border communities from Pakam in Lakes State and Luac-jang in Warrap State to mitigate conflicts related to cattle raiding, revenge killing, and pasture disputes ahead of the dry season.

The dialogue organized by the Peace Canal was launched in Rumbek between Rumbek North, Rumbek Central, and Cueibet in Lakes State on one side and Tonj East and Tonj South of Warrap State on the other.

The discussion brought together 130 participants from both sides, including chiefs, youth, women, and government officials, to agree on peaceful coexistence between the sisterly communities.

Officiating the peace dialogue, Lakes State governor Rin Tueny Mabor urged the participants to cease senseless conflicts that have ended in the raping of innocent women and the killing of elderly people.

“There is a government, and this is not the government of Arab (jur-mathiang) or British. No! It’s your own government. We earned self-rule so that we are free and can have a good life. But, are we now living a good life?”

The neighboring states in the Bahr el Ghazal region have continually experienced cross-border cattle raiding perpetuated by armed youth from both sides.

In December 2022, armed raiders believed to be from the Lakes State attacked a cattle camp, killing a man and injuring two others in Tonj South County.

A similar incident was reported this year, after which Rumbek intervened and returned more than 100 cattle raided on March 10, 2023, to their rightful owners in Tonj South County of Warrap State.

Nearly 40 people were killed, and dozens of others wounded in February 2024 during inter-communal fighting between the bordering communities of Luayjang and Pakam, according to local authorities.

Governor Mabor said he regrets that death, stealing, and killing have become the new normal in South Sudan. He added that it is disappointing that small communities can fight among themselves for control of an abundant land.

“I heard that the cause of conflicts between the Luacjang and Pakam communities is land because I heard you are fighting over it. It is a land of muony-jang (Dinka), and why are you competing for it?”

Mabor further pointed out that another major cause of inter-communal conflict is the renaming of historical lands to assert claims of ownership.

He said the other factors are cattle theft and raiding, which were never an issue during the past few decades. He denounces the brutality of cattle raiding, which he said takes innocent lives.

“In the past, the ordinary muony-jang used to get his cows through farming, marrying off his own daughter, or business and not through stealing.”

“Now, boys and girls looking after cattle are attacked, killed, and their cattle raided. Even the blind or teenagers are killed, but why the killing? So, if you have taken their belongings, why kill them again when they are your children?

In June 2023, a similar peace dialogue held in Tonj North between Luacjang and Pakam communities resolved to cease all forms of cross-border hostilities involving the neighboring populations from Lakes and Warrap states.

The two parties decried the proliferation of firearms in the hands of unauthorized persons, cattle theft, and cattle raiding as the major causes of conflict. Other conflict factors include land disputes, road ambushes, and targeted killings.

Revenge attacks and violence related to the absence of accountability as well as the lack of seasonal cattle migration agreements between the two communities were also some of the root causes of violent conflict, as they underscored.

On his part, Christopher Muchiru Murenga, UNMISS Head of Field Office in Rumbek, said the inter-communal dialogue will address some of the challenges that have been facing the neighboring cattle-keepers.

He said it is extremely important that the common resources available to the communities in terms of cattle, land, and pasture are positively utilized in a way that does not necessarily cause conflicts.

According to him, the progressive dialogue and community engagement will ensure that there is a proper and non-violent management of resources.

“I am urging everybody to ensure that there is peace being felt, and I am very sure with this conference and dialogue, peace will prevail among the communities of Lakes and Warrap States.”

“I just want to express the commitment of all peace partners, the Kongkoc consortium that provides this platform, but I would like to reiterate that UNMISS and all the peace partners are to support the community-led peace dialogue.”

“We remain committed, and we are now trying to mobilize the resources for the coming year in order to make sure peace is sustained and the communities of both Lakes and Warrap live together in harmony, share common resources, and move forward in a sustainable manner that will benefit all the communities.”

Warrap State Minister of Peace Building Mading Mawien Adhiik, who is also the head of the Warrap delegation to the talks, said people-to-people dialogue is the only way for restoring communal peace in South Sudan.

“You have to talk; that’s why you are here today. You need to talk and present your issues, and then you find a way of how to resolve those issues,” he said. “Conflict has more disadvantages than advantages.”

“Let us assume that the year 2025 will be a year of peace in South Sudan, and it will be a year of peace not only in Juba but equally across the states.”