Cattle keepers ordered to vacate farmlands in Equatoria Region

By Kitab Unango
The National Dialogue Steering Committee has ordered cattle keepers mainly from Jonglei State to vacate farmlands in Equatoria Region in pursuit of the Presidential Order which directs herders to graze on their land.
This comes as relations between farmers and cattle keepers have continued to grow sourer in parts of Equatoria region following the failure of the latter to implement the Community Engagement Committee (CEC) last year’s recommendations.
The recommendations contained short, medium and long term solution to support herders to return safely and continue to graze their animals in Jonglei without destroying farmers’ crops in Equatoria.
The committee that was supposed to continue engaging herders and agrarians suspended executing their mandates citing lack of will by the herders to implement even the Presidential Order.
In a meeting organized last week to ascertain reasons of suspension, members of the Community Engagement Committee from Equatoria said they could continue with community engagement, calling on the National Dialogue leadership to refer the matter to the President to for an amicable solution.
“We have witnessed that there is lack of will by our brothers from Jonglei to move. They even disregarded the 2015 Presidential order. So you can select two each from the six communities to go and meet the President,” a representative of Lolubo said.
Tensions between the two resulted over land for cultivation and animals’ grazing years back involving six communities including Bari, Lolubo and Kuku in Central Equatoria, and Acholi and Madi in Eastern Equatoria and Dinka in Jonglei states causing displacements and destruction of properties and crops.
This prompted the leadership of the National Dialogue Steering Committee to form the CEC to come up with amicable solutions to the matter following failure to implement the 2015 presidential order.
“The recommendations the committee came up with are the viable solutions but there is no will to implement them. We cannot continue, we need the issue be referred to President,’ said another member representing Madi community.
However, a representative of herder community pointed out that they were ready to implement the recommendations but could not because of the current prevalent situation in Jonglei.
“We cannot stop engagement. We need solution but for now it’s hard because of the situation every person has in Jonglei now, the flood,” he said.
Over the past months there have been influx of people and cattle arriving from Jonglei seeking safe havens in Equatoria region due to flooding and recurring intercommunal flights.
At least 160 000 people reported to have adversely affected by the disasters are in dire needs of humanitarian assistance in Bor, most of whom are inaccessible due to insecurity and flood.
Aber Beatrice, a Member of Parliament representing Magwi County said cattle keepers were posing imminent threat of food insecurity and homelessness and their cattle destroy plants indiscriminately.
The MP called for immediate withdrawal of the pastoralists and requested the National Dialogue Steering Committee to negotiate the cattle keepers out of her constituency.