The governor of Warrap State, Kuol Muor, held a peace rally between the restive communities of Anei Atak and Luachjang of Tonj East County on Wednesday with a call to end communal violence and allow free movement of people and goods in the county.
On 12 and 17 August, 23 people were killed and 16 others wounded in separate communal clashes between Anei Atak and Luachjang sections.
Tonj East County Commissioner Makur Duol told Radio Tamazuj Thursday that people are now moving freely after the efforts to restore peace between the Luachjang and Akok sections.
“Right now the security situation is relatively calm and people from the two communities are moving freely among themselves. Those from the Akok subsection of Anei Atak are accessing food items from Romic Town because the peace conference that ended on Wednesday has made a significant change. I hope that it will remain like this so that peace prevails among the people of Tonj East County,” he said. “Currently, I remain in the county conducting peace meetings with chiefs, the heads of cattle keepers, local administrators as well as stakeholders and politicians from greater Tonj East County to sensitize communities about the importance of peace.”
Commissioner Duol said one of the recommendations of the peace conference is the establishment of a mobile court to try murder cases and determine compensation. He added that the governor formed a 13-member peace committee to restore peace in areas where tensions are high and that arrangements are underway to deploy the army to apprehend armed civilians.
For his part, Moses Madot, a member of the state parliament representing Tonj East County, emphasized the importance of ending the cyclic killings and said the people of Tonj East County deserve peace.
“The bigger problem in Tonj East is between the two communities of Luachjang and Anei Atak and it started in May when one person from Akok subsection within Anei Atak was intentionally killed in Luachjang. This is how the communal violence started this year,” he stated. “So, intellectuals from both sides spent days talking to their people and as a result, the two communities agreed to give the government a chance to apprehend murderers and cattle raiders.”
Madot added: “Governor Kuol Muor said two things; one is to form a committee to apprehend culprits and that the people of Akok must not block the road from Thet to Romic because he (Muor) wants people not to kill innocent people and traders should not be robbed.”
He acknowledged that it is difficult to carry out forceful disarmament because the youth are armed but that the chiefs were given the responsibility to convince the youth to be accountable and surrender their guns.