Africa-Press – South-Sudan. Lawmakers constituting the parliamentary caucus of Lainya are protesting the weekend’s brutal killing of five people in the county.
The lawmakers called for the arrest and prosecution of perpetrators of violence.
“We have sat together as sons and daughters of Lainya today to write this press statement in support of our commissioner, our governor, and our president in the order that has been issued for the evacuation of all cattle in the areas that are not theirs because cold blood is really going,” they stated.
Joyce noted that there was an influx of groups of cattle keepers who had caused havoc in the county and that the government needed to intervene immediately.
Stephen Digol Steward stated that support from the national government is required to resolve the situation because the state government’s efforts to expel the cattle herders appear to be difficult.
“The national government should intervene. We have the national forces who should intervene because the order comes from up; from the president, then to the governor and county commissioner.”
The lawmakers accused the SSPDF forces of colluding with the herders, claiming the military arrived at the scene three hours after the incident and stayed only five minutes before leaving.
Digol alleged that the herders have not moved an inch since Central Equatoria State governor Emmanuel Adil and other state officials toured cattle camps in Lainya to urge the herders to peacefully return their animals to their original locations.
He said that the president and the governor must both take action to get the cattle out of the region.
Another lawmaker in the Central Equatoria State Assembly, Khamis Kwaja, argued the attacks have made them residents to look like they are not citizens with rights to protection.
According to David Mateloro Zachariah, chairperson of the Wuji Payam community where the incident occurred, nearly 300 households have been forced to leave their homes as a result of the vicious assault. The number is continuing to rise due to the dire security situation.
“We have people on the way crossing into Uganda because of that incident that happened, and it is a dire situation,” he noted.
He described how the alleged armed cattle herders from Bor proceeded to the Limuro trading center, made their way towards the military barracks, and began firing haphazardly at the civilians.
Zachariah said that it is imperative that both the state and the national government take swift action to control the situation.
At yesterday’s press conference, the MPs were joined by Lainya County community leaders, including a bishop, for a prayer service which was held in memory of those killed in the incident.
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“We have sat together as sons and daughters of Lainya today to write this press statement in support of our commissioner, our governor, and our president in the order that has been issued for the evacuation of all cattle in the areas that are not theirs because cold blood is really going.”- Dusman Joyce (Legislator)
Source: The City Review South Sudan
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