Anxiety as cattle keepers establish ‘secret’ training centre in Magwi County
The residents of Ayii Boma in Magwi County of Eastern Equatoria State are expressing fear over the establishment of a secret training camp by armed cattle keepers believed to be from Jonglei State.
Ayii Boma Chief, Marino Olal, told The City Review in an interview that there have been endless gunshots at the said training centre but local authorities cannot access the place.
“Yeah I was informed about the training centre but I have not reached there. All I can tell you is that we have been hearing endless rounds of gun gunshots,” he said.
The boma chief also said the existence of the cattle keepers in the area was posing an unprecedented security threat to residents who are largely farmers.
“It is a big threat because now people are leaving in fear,” said Olal, who said he was out of the boma and travelling to Magwi County Headquarters at the time of the interview.
The City Review also established that a group of 30 armed cattle keepers made their way to Abara, another boma in Magwi County, and demanded to see the chief without making their intentions known.
Intimidation
The chief said the armed group apprehended and intimidated one charcoal producer, forcing many to flee as they feared for their lives.
On Monday, some residents of Ayii boma dealing in charcoal production reported that they fled the scenes after hearing fierce gunshots from the cattle keepers.
Sources who spoke to The City Review from the occupied area said the group of armed youth with an elderly ringleader stirred the mayhem Monday morning after firing several gunshots to disperse residents who settled in the bush to produce charcoal.
“They started shooting this [Monday] morning and everyone who shifted from their homes to produce charcoal in the bush have fled as they feared for their lives,” one of the sources who sought to be anonymous said.
“It’s a very scary situation here in Ayii. When they catch you they start interrogating you or even kill you. And here people are not armed because our area is peaceful,” the source added.
Commissioner blamed
The residents of Ayii Boma have blamed the commissioner of Magwi County David Otto Remson for doing little to drive cattle keepers out of the county.
“He [the commissioner] has said the cattle keepers will go, the cattle keepers will go. But how do they go when he doesn’t take stern action against them?” one resident questioned.
The commissioner could not be reached for comments after several phone calls to his office rang unanswered.
Presidential order defied
In 2017, President Salva Kiir issued an order instructing the army to ensure the immediate withdrawal of cattle keepers together with their cattle from the Equatoria region and leave for their states.
The order announced through the state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) on Monday evening directed the chief of defence forces of the army to ensure that all pastoralists from Jonglei, Eastern Lakes and Terekeka states withdraw and return back to their respective states.
But five years on, farmers within the Equatoria region still decry the destruction of crops and livelihoods by cattle keepers.
