A three-day peace conference involving the communities of Ayod County and their Nyirol County counterparts in Jonglei State concluded in Ayod’s Magog town on Wednesday with a recommitment to peaceful coexistence.
The security situation between the communities of the Gawar Nuer in Ayod and their Lou Nuer neighbours has been tense since February and characterized by violent cattle raids. The cyclic violence has left scores dead, prompting state government officials to engage the rival communities in a series of rallies and meetings since late June.
James Mawich Makuach, the state roads and bridges minister and deputy head of the peace committee, told Radio Tamazuj that the rival Nuer communities had been reconciled.
“After those rallies and meetings, a peace conference was conducted in Nyirol’s Pading town from 11 to 16 August. This was then followed by the three-day conference we concluded on 24 August,” he said. “The conference was fruitful, and the resolutions passed include the compensation of those killed and recovery of the raided cattle from both sides.”
“Dating back to January this year, 15 people were dead from Ayod and 13 from Nyirol,” he added.
Minister Mawich expressed optimism that peace will hold between the rival communities because the resolutions were initiated and passed by them.
“As a state government, we were just facilitating. All the resolutions originated from the communities,” he said. “Again, we will present our report to the state to form committees to oversee the implementation process.”
Nyirol County Commissioner James Bol Makuei, who led a 50-member delegation to the conference, said the event was fruitful.
“Chiefs and youth leaders and the entire county agreed to reconciliation because it was agreed that all the raided cattle shall be returned and that those killed from both sides will be compensated,” he said.
On his part, James Chuol Jiek, the Ayod County commissioner, lauded the state government for initiating the conference and said he is hopeful that peace will now prevail.
“Everyone killed and those cattle raided from both sides shall be compensated. Fifty cows shall be paid as blood compensation for each of those killed,” he explained. “While those killed innocently in road ambushes will be compensated with 80 cows.”