Members of the national parliament from the Collo tribe have warned against the alleged seizure of land in and around Malakal that they consider to belong to their tribe, protesting the Establishment Order by President Salva Kiir that gives Malakal to East Nile State.

Malakal has historically been the capital of Upper Nile, a multi-ethnic state inhabited by Dinka, Nuer, Collo and other tribes. But the presidential order issued last October separates Malakal from West Nile State, where the majority of Collo live, and makes it instead the capital of East Nile, which is inhabited predominantly by the Padang Dinka tribe.

Speaking at a news conference at the parliament premises today, MP Onyoti Adigo Nyikwec and five other Collo MPs warned that the annexation of Malakal to East Nile State could lead to conflict.

“We hope that the Jieng [Dinka] of Padang and their plotters understand it well that if this illegal occupation of Malakal and other Collo areas is not revoked, it would be a recipe for non-stop deadly war,” Adigo said.

Adigo said 75% of the civil servants working in Malakal alone have been from the Collo tribe, followed by 20% from Nuer and less 5% from Padang Dinka.

Meanwhile, he alleged that the government of the newly created East Nile State has now suspended all the Collo civil servants and replaced them with new Padang Dinka.

He said the government must know that Malakal town belongs to the Collo people.

“The unnecessary aggression by the governor must be responded to strongly. We condemn the behavior of the governor of the so-called Eastern Nile state in the strongest terms possible,” he said.

Adigo claimed the governor was “obsessed with the power given to him up to the extent of continuing to cause havoc to the Collo and Nuer government officials whom he has now dismissed illegally from the civil service.”

Asked whether the Collo politicians have raised their concerns to the government or Council of States, he replied, “Unfortunately the government is not ready. For many times we have been calling to meet with the president to discuss these issues. The government will be ready for somebody talking the same language with them.”

The MP also disclosed that talks between Padang Dinka and Collo leaders in Juba had failed to resolve tensions. “Unfortunately, the chairman whom we took as an elder and chairman between the Collo and Padang community called Joshua Dau Diu was the first to kill that thing and went and joined with the so-called Jieng Council of Elders.”

He was referring to the Dinka lobby group that advises President Salva Kiir informally, headed by Ambrose Riiny Thiik.