Local security officials in Tonj East County of Warrap State have welcomed the announcement of the resumption of disarmament in the area but the Luacjang community is wary and have expressed reservations about the exercise. 

The earlier disarmament in Tonj East was halted in August following clashes between the Luacjang community and the South Sudan Defense force (SSPDF) where at least 140 people were killed and dozens of others wounded forcing the government to stop the exercise in the area. 

Last week the government in Juba announced that disarmament in Tonj East will resume soon.

Madhol Chol who heads community security in Tonj confirmed to Radio Tamazuj this week that disarmament will resume as soon as floodwaters recede and forces are deployed in the area.

He says the exercise will be in two phases, the first phase will be voluntary while the second will be forceful.

Chol said chiefs and local authorities will be tasked with enlightening the armed youth to surrender their guns to the concerned authorities and warns that those who will not comply will face the full force of the law.

“Anybody who refuses to give in his gun will be the responsibility of the chief because the chief is the representative of the people and he can talk to his subjects. He can tell them to surrender all the guns without problems. Anybody who refuses to surrender the gun after that will be held responsible,” Chol cautioned.

Local authorities of the Luacjang community say they are yet to receive official notification about the resumption of the disarmament in the area.

Mabior Adel, one of the administrators in Romic, the headquarters of Tonj East County, said the issues that led to the halting of the disarmament exercise have not been addressed and that the announcement of the resumption of the disarmament campaign came as a surprise to them.

“There were reasons that made the disarmament to stop and some of those reasons have not to be solved. The resumption of disarmament is a surprise to us as authorities of Luacjang and in particular Tonj East. We have not received such a message and we hope the government will come with it to us officially and there are some questions that we will ask the government,” he said.

The acting chairman of the Luacjang community youth, Marial Yai Ngor, welcomed the disarmament but says the timing is not right because it will fuel animosity in the already fragile relationship between the army and the community.

“You know peace can be available but the type of disarmament that the government is carrying out these days can add more problems to the conflict. You know it is a problem itself and my suggestion is we don’t allow disarmament to take place in our community right now because we are seeing it as a conspiracy,” Yai said.

Ngor said his Luacjang community foresees that as soon as they are disarmed the army will carry out revenge attacks against them, “since the time halting of the disarmament in Tonj East was announced Luacjang area has been a no go zone for the army.”