Toposa, Turkana record 6 months of peaceful co-existence
By Theophilous Ochang
The Commissioner of Kapoeta East County, Eastern Equatoria State, Abdallah Angelo Lokeno has praised the July peace agreement for upholding peace with the Turkana community.
He said it had been six months without conflict since the signing of the peace deal with the neighboring Turkana of Kenya.
In an interview with The City Review on Monday, Commissioner Lokeno said the July peace dialogue between the two neighboring communities of Toposa and Turkana has yielded the most needed fruits of relative peace with the Turkana community.
“Now we have 6 months of peaceful co-existence with the Turkana and the Toposa are moving freely without any problem,” he stated.
According to Lokeno, the business persons from the two neighboring communities are also freely moving in both South Sudan Eastern Equatoria state and Turkana of Kenya.
“Now, the business people of Toposa can move up to the side of Lodwar, Kakuma, and some other parts, and also Turkana are coming to Kapoeta East County.”
He further added that the two communities have agreed to leave the border issues to the governments of South Sudan and Kenya.
In a two-day cross-border peace dialogue held in Lokichiogio Sub County of Turkana County in Kenya in July this year, the two neighboring communities of Toposa of South Sudan and Turkana of Kenya agreed to share water points and grazing land among themselves and embrace peaceful co-existence.
Rampant killing, child abduction, and cattle raiding were the key main issues the two communities had resolved to end.
The cross-border peace dialogue was meant to strengthen peace building and community resilience.
To restore harmony and foster collaboration, the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat, alongside Kenya, Uganda, and South Sudan, planned a high-level Ateker Border Communities sensitization meeting in October in Moroto, Uganda. The meeting was aimed at presenting the resolutions from the first EAC Peace Caravan held in July 2023 and review strategies for implementing these resolutions, among other issues.
