A peace conference between the Toposa and Buya communities of Kapoeta State has been scheduled to take place next month. The meeting will be facilitated by South Sudan Council of Churches.
This comes after rising tensions between the two feuding communities in recent months.
Speaking at a consultative meeting in Riwoto County on Tuesday, Marko Lonya Lokonyen, a Toposa youth leader, admitted that young people from both sides have resorted to killing innocent women and children for no reason.
He said they need to live in peace with members of the Buya community.
“We need peace, let God bring a mediator in the middle to unite us and enable us be in peace with the Buya,” he said.
Father Alfred Loguti, a Catholic priest from Buya community, said they accept calls that all forms of killings between the two communities must end.
He asked the Toposa to accept peace with his community.
Meanwhile, the Kapoeta State Peace Commission chairperson Fr. Thomas Lokai decried the continuous killings in the state. He urged citizens to stop killings and enjoy peace dividends.
For his part, the Chairperson of South Sudan Council of Churches, Bishop Arkangelo Wani Lemi said peace should not be expressed by words of mouth, but through actions.
He said peace remains a priority to everyone in the country.
“But it is not only talking with your mouth, but acting. It is a priority, whether it is here or it is elsewhere,” Arkangelo stressed.
The Torit Catholic diocese, Bishop Stephen Martin Mulla urged peace and reconciliation between the state's different communities.
At least eight people, including three women, were reported killed and another person injured in revenge attacks between the Buya and Toposa communities in Kapoeta State between July and September this year.
According to reports, the routine of revenge attacks in many parts of South Sudan prevails due to lack of an efficient justice system.