The Executive Chief of Ngerjebe Boma in Juba County’s Lokiliri Payam in Central Equatoria State on Monday raised an alarm about the presence of large herds of cattle that are destroying crops in his area.
Biaftore Modi Modesto told Radio Tamazuj that the cattle in large camps started entering the payam in September and wreaking havoc on the gardens of the natives.
“Some bad things are going on and since September, herders and their cattle in about 55 cattle camps have entered Lokiliri Payam. The cattle started destroying crops right from Nesitu up to here in Ngerjebe Boma,” he said. “In 2022, we lost about 10 people in Ngerjebe Boma alone, we also lost people in Ngangala, Edemo, Aru, and further ahead. The government is seeing the movement of the cattle and keeping quiet yet I have been raising questions to the authorities by phone and no one is giving me answers.”
Chief Modi added: “The cattle started entering from Nyongki to the side of Kit and now from Kit they are heading to Lofuro, Likibori, and on to the Nimule Road where they are now destroying the crops of people in Nesitu.”
The chief called on the government to help return the cattle and their herders to their places of origin.
“My appeal to the government is that we are farmers and people who love peace. The cattle are coming from Jonglei State and our brothers in Terekeka,” he said. “For peace, let cattle go back to their places because they are going to cause conflict among us and the presence of the cattle will also lead to hunger.”
When contacted, Lyon Abe Brown, the Central Equatoria State Minister for Local Government and Law Enforcement Agencies, said the issue of cattle invading farmlands is not a new thing, and resolving the issue is no longer his responsibility.
“In Central Equatoria, the issue of cattle is not even handled by my office but has reached the office of the president [Salva Kiir] who has issued an order that that these cattle should go back to their places,” he said.