Local officials in Warrap State on Wednesday said the two sections of the Lou community in Tonj North County reconciled during a three-day conference that started on Monday with a call for forgiveness and an end to sectional differences.
In 2018, the Lou community differed on what the county should be named. Some clans from the Patek section which is named after their ancestor, Lou Ariik Mawien, wanted Alabek Payam which was elevated to a county to be renamed Lou Mawien or Lou Ariik County while the other clans insisted that the name of the county remain Alabek.
The disagreements continued until it sparked sectional fighting which resulted in the killing of 12 people from both sides, according to officials.
Atek Monydhar Atak, a parliamentarian in the Warrap State legislature representing the Lou, Alabek Payam, on Wednesday said that the community reconciled and proposed that the state government consider creating two payams in the area.
“There was a conference held in Tonj North and it was to solve the problem of the Lou community. In 2016, there was Alabek Boma in the Lou Ariik section and this Boma was administratively promoted to a Payam and then county and then the people of Lou Ariik, especially the Patek clan, wanted it to be named Lou Ariik County. This was how the conflict began,” he explained. “The county logo on the flag was proposed to be a lizard because Ariik (Lizard) was the name of the ancestor of Patek, the owners of Lou section, but fighting erupted and 12 people were killed.
Atek said four people from the Patek clan and eight from the other clans lost their lives in the ensuing sectional fighting.
“For that reason, the committee was formed to solve the problem, and yesterday (Wednesday) people agreed that there will be no more hatred but proposed to have two payams of Lou center and Majak,” he added.
Meanwhile, Kuol Akoon Kuol, the Tonj North County commissioner, confirmed the armistice and said that the proposal to create two payams was just additional but that the grievances of the communities were resolved.
“There were differences we were resolving in Tonj North County. The people of Lou were not listening to each other for a long time, five years now since 2016, when the naming of the county became a problem,” he said. “The committee which was formed in 2021 came with findings and we conducted the conference on 5 May and the people understood themselves.”
Commissioner Akoon said that the meeting was attended by chiefs, youth, women, and elders who agreed that Lou is the general old name and the headquarters of the payam remain Alabek.
“They all agreed but a few people who did not attend may have had different opinions, but the proposal of two payams was just a community demand,” he said.