Lakes State Cattle Rustling Turns into Business Venture
By Emmanuel Malual Makuach, Juba
March 9, 2015 (SSB) — Lakes state, for the most part its existence, has not known peace, owing to the never-ending insecurity engendered by banditry, revenge attacks and cattle rustling.
In the eyes those who do not understand this problem, Cattle-rustling is an old tradition among pastoralist communities in the old Sudan and presently in an independent South Sudan.
Nowadays, the evil of cattle rustling has been brought forth with new fury by the acquisition of sophisticated modern weaponry.
With modernization and technology sweeping across the world, this ancient practice is mutating into a criminal practice where proliferation of small arms into the hands of civilians has given rise to violent criminal gangs who kill and rob with violence replacing the old time cattle rustling that was meant to replenish diminishing stock due to draught and other factors.
Historically, among the Dinka cattle-rustling took place on a seasonal basis and was mainly associated with rites of passage into adulthood. Before becoming an adult (the rite of passage which happens every year) after removal lower teeth and scarification on men the newly initiated men took part in cattle raids to demonstrate their Prowers and velour. Such raids were also organized to raise the dowry paid as pride price to a bride’s parents.
Furthermore, such raids served as means to restock the community’s livestock especially after a dry spell. The raiders were mainly interested in cattle and sometimes women who were taken as wives. The raided communities would in turn organize counter-raids to recover the stolen livestock but not with the Dinka and Nuer communities.
The main weaponry used in these raids was traditional spears, bows and poisoned arrows. That is long time ago. Such raids did not fundamentally disrupt the lives and livelihoods of the communities affected since they were not as frequent or fatal as they are today—using weapon which was dangerous to the people
Modern robbery with violence in the name of cattle rustling
In this new setting, there is a strong link between cattle rustling, political patronage and business deals. According to a report presented to legislative assembly, politicians encourage cattle rustling for their political interests, as they make money through the practice.
Because of political implication in the business of cattle arising from raids, these politicians are neither apprehended nor are they charged in courts of law for these crimes. The committee were formed to carried out the investigation to find out the cycle of violent in the state the committee calls cattle raiding is modern robbery with violence .
These raiders are paid by these politicians to deliver specified number of heads of cattle and other livestock to specific places for slaughter and sale as meat. They also use the opportunities and protection provided by the politicians to acquire livestock for their communities, thereby earning support from the same. It is thus politically incorrect in some communities for politicians to condemn the practice.
What compounds this menace further is the rampant culture of impunity in lakes state and the government’s failure to stamp out the practice or deal firmly with the persons behind it. When a raid takes place, the police react by following the raiders with the stolen livestock but rarely recover them. They fail to arrest even one criminal despite loss of lives and the raider’s continuous attacks even villages near police stations.
What is more, these raids are well planned and executed with military precision characterized by the use of modern and destructive weapons. Cattle raiders are known to use small arms and light weapons such as MK4, G3, AK47, HK11, grenades, and mortars, yet the police intelligence have failed to tract these coordination.
The primary element in these raids is that the cattle stolen are taken to urban centers where they are slaughtered and sold as beef for the example the case of 280 goats and 20 sheep were intercepted on their way to a slaughter house in Rumbek centers.
Most of the counties practice the same where some communities accused the state government of not arresting the suspects due to the fact that they are benefiting from the cows that being raids profitable business, leading to its commercialization, because they were getting revenue from the criminals
The author is a student at Mount Kenya University, Kenya, studying Mass communication and Journalism
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