At least two people have been killed in two separate attacks on Thursday and Friday in Kapoeta North and Budi Counties of South Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria State.
"One of the Buya ladies was killed at Napak and also the Buya had come to this side, and one of them was also shot dead. Both victims are from Buya. The Buya came here to raiding and one of them got killed and the Toposa also from this county went to the Buya to pay back the woman who was killed, so it was a revenge killing," Kapoeta North County Commissioner Emmanuel Epone Lolimo told Radio Tamazuj.
He accused the youth from Budi County of the raids saying they have disregarded a recent peace agreement calling for peaceful coexistence.
"First the whole of last week, the Buya have been coming here, they took our four goats and went with them. Also last week, they stole two herds of cattle from kraals and went with them," he added.
Epone said although they are closely working with his Budi counterpart, the proliferation of arms in the hands of the youth is beyond their control.
"We are in touch with the Commissioner of Budi but what can we do as county commissioners when the people are not even listening to us? You know this proliferation of small arms has made all our youth violent, they are aggressive, they feel they are more strong,” Epone lamented.
The commissioner says he will convene a meeting with all the political leaders of both Kapoeta North and Budi counties to explore means of promoting peace in the area.
Meanwhile, Budi County Executive Director Alfred Odong says he is not aware of the incidents due to the poor road and communication networks.
However, he called upon the communities to live in peace and embrace each other.
Juma Tikol, a civil society activist in Kapoeta, says the government has the upper hand in resolving the conflict by ensuring that the resolutions of the Kali peace dialogue are implemented.
"There is this dialogue that was held there are some resolutions were arrived at. But the problem is that the resolutions are not followed and the very people that should ensure these resolutions are followed is the government,” Tikol added.
The two communities of Buya of Budi County and Toposa of Kapoeta North Counties have been fighting each other for a long time now.
On August 9th, 2021 Nyakiriket Consortium, a local organization supported the initiative of the peace dialogue between the communities of Toposa and Buya in Kali, Kimotong Payam of Budi County.