Why Yau Yau Deserves Credit for Peace in Villages of Bor, Twic East and Duk Counties in Jonglei state

The subsequent creation of Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) and appointment of Yau Yau as chief administrator largely offered leadership to Pibor communities and particularly the Murle people.

Villages in Dinka Bor areas never witnessed tranquility for hundreds of years and death from cattle raids blamed on Murle tribesmen nearly became part of daily lives. According to elders, Murle migrated to the current Pibor area in around 1800 and continued to push the Dinka Bor people westwards. The elders say this does not mean the Dinka Bor were/are cowards but the Murle war outfit is non confrontational. Murle would attack each household at night and killed sleeping people using long spears and disappear into the bush. They would return again, again and again killing one person after the other.

Dinka Bor warfare is completely different. The Dinka people categorize ambushes as cowardice and prefer to confront the enemy with a full consent. And over the centuries, the killing continued unabated until British colonial era. The British administration used horses to pursue Murle child abductors and cattle raiders to their villages and ensure that the criminals are apprehended and justice is served for the victims.

That approach resulted to that famous saying ‘Dit ce ciiu paan ne apul, ee din ke kan ciiu’ (and loosely translated as that strange singing from bird has never occurred in this [Murle] land.’ It’s said police horse cried at dawn and one Murle man thought it was a strange bird. But the Britain left Sudan in 1956, the raiding and child abduction resumed without accountability.

The Murle have their explanation though. According them, Dinka Bor started selling to them the children and then buyers evolved and etc. All those histories could not convince anyone in this 21st century beyond reasonable doubt but one thing is intact; the killing of civilians and abduction of children in villages continued unabated. Remember that killing in Anyidi in around 1982! The killing of people in Cueiker villages! I can’t write all that here because there are countless of them.

During the 1983—2005 war, Bor villages were highly populated. I remember returning to my village in January 2004 and saw how beautiful it was. Traditional dances and night courtships were common place. I don’t want to mention about the numerous goats, cows and large farms cultivated by villagers without any government support then! It was marvelous returning to my village after twelve years and for the first time, I slept in a family compound where my grandfather was buried.

That did not mean there was no raid blame on Murle armed men. There were indeed killings on nearly daily basis. And when the 2005 CPA resulted into formation of the government of Southern Sudan (GoSS), people gave the job of providing security to the government. Many villagers were enrolled in the police, wildlife rangers, prison services and casual workers in various local government departments.

That completely changed the villages status. Instead of young men providing protection to the villages, almost all of them migrated to towns where there was better chance of getting little income and live a better life. And the villages near Bor town were almost immediately deserted. People did not know what awaited them in that town; no enough health facilities, schools and clean water. And thus some people opted to return their families to the villages and remain working in town.

Unfortunately, the government did not provide security to the villages and every time a village is raided, police move to pursue the raiders and return after some hours with report that “they have gone so far. We can’t reach them.” In autumn 2007, nearly forty people were killed in cattle raid some 40 km north of Bor town. The victims were mainly from Jalle and Baidit Payams of Bor county. The raiders were never caught by government forces because they “went far” and police could not reach them. Angry relatives took the laws into their own hands and revenged on Murle patients.

In December of 2007, Governor Philip Thon Leek was replaced with Governor Kuol Manyang Juuk. I remembered that mammoth crowd that gathered to welcome Governor Kuol and where he delivered his ambitious speech of restoring peace and kick-start development. Insecurity worsened during Kuol’s reign than before and people were now being killed within Bor town suburbs.

The pressure group that helped to oust Governor Philip Thon Leek restart releasing their press statements to condemn one incident after the other but the trend barely continued. Government meandered around disarmament, communities’ peace conferences, and church leaders’ organized prayers but all those effort completely failed. Resources were/are wasted in those conferences instead of realizing the importance of enforcing the rule of law by HOLDING THE CRIMINAL ACCOUNTABLE. (I am told one conference will be held next week in Bor).

And in 2010, Yau Yau came in after losing election to Jonglei state legislative assembly. He said the votes were rigged in favor of his rival Jude Jonglei Boyoris, the current Jonglei state minister of information. His rebellion started and he benefited from the lawlessness. Wherever he got further support to have the gut to attack military bases is a different story but his core fighters were cattle raiders and child abductors.

I attended many of the funerals and burial ceremonies as a news reporter based in Bor between 2007—2012. Every time there was a killing in a village, official would call me to say this number of people have been killed. There are times the headline for last month story would march today’s. But one question always remained unanswered: What steps are you taking to avoid this killing in the future? ‘The government must protect the people and ensure that the Murle are disarmed’ would be the answer.

And when there is a raid on the Murle, officials there would say ‘the government must disarm the Dinka Bor/Lou Nuer and protect the people.’ And the same quotations come up repeatedly. To the officials, there is a government that must disarm the other group and protect the people.

The villagers gave up on expecting government protection. I attended a burial of 55 people in Jalle in December 2011. The song sung by the villagers in the story said everything. “Beny liec wook, luuya, Beny liec wook, liec wook, liec wook beei door benydit.”

Talk of the massacres of people in Twic East; Ajuong Payam, Wernyirol, Kongor etc.

The politicians merely flew into the villages, bury the dead and return to Juba, address press conferences and that is it.

And so when Yau Yau agreed with government on 9th May and haven’t heard about people killed in the villages, I thought I am obliged to say thank you David Yau Yau for restraining the raider. Our people in the villages deserve peace. They might be poor but deserve to live with dignity. When I move around in Juba and see women from Bor area lining up at foreign exchange bureaus to get few hundreds to sell in the black market and provide meal to their children, it remain me of the importance of having a peaceful village and have those women work on farms and live happily.

It pain to meet your villagers in towns walking on foot, sweating profusely and dodging those ruthless drivers. They lost their dignity because their villages are emptied and not protected. And they won’t protect themselves because the source of defend, the youths, are taken up by education. Those learnt boys and girls know how to run their own lives without raiding others’ cattle or abducting children.

On the other hand, Yau Yau has realized the significance of Murle living peacefully with neighbors. When I met him recently, he said his main priority was security and he asked if I have ever heard of any raid since May 2014 and to which replied; “So does it mean politicians support tribal feuds?” and the answer was a blanket ‘yes.’ His secret, he said, is a strict rule of law.

People have died in thousands. Revenge attacks have been carried out and there is no end to the suffering of the people in the villages. Now that Yau Yau has taken up a responsibility for the last five months, it is better to wish him well. Those destructive politicians, those who encourage the villagers to revenge, must be told point blank: ‘There is no need for further suffering.’

I vividly recall a remark by Twic East county paramount chief Manyok Ajak in February 2012.

“If you (government officials) don’t provide security, we (the villagers) shall leave the villages like you and take our children and women abroad like you. We shall see if you will remain in those seats,” Manyok said.

There was no bigger personally statement from a respected man than what chief Manyok said. He pointed out clearly that there is no way civilians have to provide their own security since there is a government. To my surprise the politicians never took him seriously.

© Philip Thon Aleu