Did Governor Joseph Bakasoro Condemn the Dinka Community?
By PaanLuel Wel, Juba
January 18, 2015 (SSB) — Some opinions have been offered about the veracity of the “politically incorrect” statement attributed to Governor Joseph Bakasoro of Western Equatoria state.
Here is what I know, I being someone from the ground who, though not a journalist of any kind or type, is nevertheless interested in the affairs of our republic.
What we all know is that there are Dinka pastoralists (from Jonglei and Lakes states) who have settled in the Equatoria region not only with their families, but their cattle as well. The presence of Dinka cattle among the farming communities of the Equatoria region has been a source of perennial friction; Nimule is the best case in point.
In Mundri, there has been a running conflict between the Dinka pastoralists (mostly from Lakes state) and the host community who complain of their farms being destroyed by the cattle. “In October 2014, the fighting erupted after cattle destroyed farms. Several people were injured, including a little girl.”
A 2-day conference was convened on 15-16 January 2015 between the host community and the Dinka pastoralists to resolve the issue.
The meeting, attended by Governor Bakasoro and all the top politicians of Western Equatoria state and leaders of the Dinka cattle camps, resolved the following: (1) Guns be repatriated with immediate effect (2) Cattle leave Greater Mundri within 21 days. It is from this Pastoralists/Farmers peace conference that news emerged of the “politically incorrect” remarks attributed to Governor Bakasoro.
With that being the background information, “seekers of truth” are demanding the proof that the governor has actually uttered such “revealing” remarks.
A verifiable proof may be in forms of an audio or video clip or a confirmation from one of the participants in that said conference.
However, I should mention here that it was after the end of the conference (January 16th) that news emerged (January 17th) of the statement attributed to the Governor Bakasoro; nothing so far has indicated that the statement was uttered prior to, within or after the conference.
The only reason why someone would connect the two is because the statement in question is addressing precisely the very issue that was the agenda of the pastoralists/farmers peace conference.
This is what I know, so far, as a concerned citizen of South Sudan. It is up to you as an individual to form your own opinion about the veracity of the remark in question.
Did the governor say it—before, during or after the conference? What do you know, think?
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The opinion expressed here is solely the view of the writer. The veracity of any claim made are the responsibility of the author, not PaanLuel Wël: South Sudanese Bloggers (SSB) website. If you want to submit an opinion article or news analysis, please email it to paanluel2011@gmail.com. SSB do reserve the right to edit material before publication. Please include your full name, email address and the country you are writing from.
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