South Sudan’s Magwi county officials are calling for government intervention to diffuse simmering tensions between farmers and pastoralists in Torit state, saying an agreement signed at the beginning of the year is not being respected.
Magwi County Commissioner Ochola Bosco Oringa told Radio Tamazuj that the local community and pastoralists signed a memorandum of understanding in January demanding the pastoralists to evacuate the area.
However, he said, the pastoralists even after the signed agreement seem unwilling to leave adding that they are witnessing an increased number of cattle in the county since last week.
“In January, the cattle were evacuated but they have recently around 21, 22 April appeared in Nyolo. So the pastoralists leave their cattle because to cross and graze on this side while they watch from the other side,” he said.
According to Bosco, the farmers in Magwi may fail to cultivate for the fourth year if pastoralists do not evacuate their lands giving them space to farm.
He called for government intervention to resolve this matter before it gets out of hand.
“The government should try to talk this issue related to cattle at all levels. We must join hands in order to address this problem. We need our collective intervention in order to ensure the issue is addressed. The local government alone cannot address this issue,” he said.
The agreement on 25th of January this year was prompted by an incident where three people killed including a chief by cattle keepers and several disagreements between farmers and pastoralists in the area.