Calm has returned in Oronyo village in Eastern Equatoria State’s Torit County after the state government intervened over the weekend to contain sectional fighting which erupted last Thursday.
On Sunday, government officials from the county and local area representatives convened a one-day peace dialogue that brought together the conflicting communities to discuss and find amicable solutions to their problems.
On Thursday last week, one person was shot dead, 18 houses were burnt and several villagers were displaced by a clash between two sections in Oronyo Village. Despite the uneasy calm, no arrests have been made but the warring communities expressed willingness to peacefully co-exist and forgive each other for the crimes committed.
Obura Denis, a youth representing the Hiyu traditional camp, said his community wholeheartedly accepted peace, and hostilities and is willing to live in peace. He said the youth were politically incited into conflict.
“I am greeting all our leaders today. Indeed, the devil can force conflict and it has led us into a big mess and we are not ready for this anymore,” he stated. “We are ready to reconcile and live in peace like before.”
For his part, Oheny Orazio, a representative of the Isaru section, apologized for what happened, saying his side automatically accepted peace and reconciliation.
“We have accepted, we cannot oppose what you say, thank you a lot because you have helped us and nothing bad will happen again,” he said. “These are our brother, the devil forced us to enter into conflict and God should take all that away and for us, we are reconciling.”
A community member who only identified himself as Oliche said though the two parties resolved to forgive and live in peace, perpetrators should be held accountable. He admits that the recent inter-communal violence was incited by politicians living in Torit and other parts of the state.
“Like someone said, there is incitement, but for the sake of peace, we are ready to unite,” he said. “However, what do we do about our houses that were burnt?”
Meanwhile, Okeny Robert Osman, the administrator of Bur Payam, urged the government to establish a police post in the area to help curb crime and tensions among youth.
“I am appealing for a police post to be established here because there are cases that have taken between 10 to 15 years without being taken to Torit despite arrest warrants being issued. All this comes due to several crimes committed as a result of incitement of violence,” he said. “I am appealing for the police force to be deployed here to protect passengers and the business community which uses the road. The youth are engaging in conflict because there are no security forces present here and anyone can commit any crime because no one will investigate it. I am sure the chief cannot arrest a criminal here but when the police are deployed, these criminals will not do anything.”
Angelina Quintino, a state lawmaker who hails from the area, confirmed that relative calm returned to the area and appealed to the communities to cease hostilities.
“I am happy because my people have vowed to live in peace and this will allow free movement,” she stated. “If anything bad happens to you, this will not be my responsibility but it will be handed to the commissioner,”