Chiefs from Ayei’s nine Dinka Ngok chieftaincies last Sunday concluded a four-day conference on customary laws in Abyei town.
The conference, supported by The International Organization for Migration (IOM), was attended by over 78 participants including chiefs, local government officials, and a representative from the neighboring Twic, Ruweng, Mayom, and Aweil communities.
According to Abyei Paramount Chief Bulabek Deng Kuol Abyei, the meeting was to revive Abyei customary laws and cultural values which the younger generations are oblivious about and to evaluate the Ngok Dinka cultures and norms and return to positive cultural practices.
He said before Sudan’s civil war, the culture of nine Ngok chieftaincies was good and that the war dispersed people all over the world and they came back with different cultures and civilizations.
“We know that 18 years is the internationally acceptable age of maturity but during the conference, it was agreed that 2 years should be added to young girls to qualify them for marriage,” Paramount Chief Bulabek said. “While boys should exceed 25 years before marriage because the formation of a family is not easy.”
Bith Ajak Malual, one of the chiefs who attended the conference told Radio Tamazuj said the culture of the Dinka Ngok had been affected by interferences by cultures adopted from the Arabs and East Africa.
“The purpose of the conference is to amend the customary laws and write them down because we used to memorize all our laws in our heads and apply them accordingly,” Chief Ajak explained. “Our cultures right now include Sudanese and other cultures so that is why we convened the discussion to merge the good cultures.”