The Dinka Cattle Camps in Equatoria
By David Mayen, South Sudan
June 15, 2015 (SSB) — I have decided to write this notes about Dinka cattle camps in greater Equatoria region (the Three States of Central, Western, and Eastern Equatoria) as well as Western Bahar Alghazal- knowing that my taking on this controversial subject might offend a great many. But for what I have seen and heard about the issue (especially what is currently happening in Meridi- which is not the topic of this article since investigations are ongoing), I feel obliged to contribute to the wider debate currently going on across the country.
I have had a great opportunity to listen to government officials and citizens of those states when I went as a member of advanced teams tasked with organizing State ‘Mini-Conferences’ on peaceful coexistence in 2014. As we listened to complaints from local farmers and county/payam officials alike, I developed an appreciation of the magnitude of this problem.
As a jang (singular of jieng/Dinka) myself, I was initially tempted to find excuses for my tribesmen’s incursions deep into other regions for search of greener pastures. Tow particular pretexts for the current incursions by cattle keepers into Equatoria are (1) looking for greener pasture and (1) fleeing insecurity caused by cattle rustling.
The first excuse quickly evaporated from my head when I remembered what I saw when I flow over the Sud region on our way to Malakal in 2013, a couple of months before the current senseless civil war began. If my characterization is correct, the Sud‘s evergreen wetland/swamps (unparalleled even in Equatoria) and its tributaries constituted safe heavens where the Jieng, Nuer, Murle, Shiluk, and all other cattle keeper tribes have taken their cattle for grazing since times immemorial.
That excuse of greener pastures in Equatoria or Western Bahar Algazal quickly became laughable to me. I hated myself for a minute for being unable to resist that natural temptation to take sides that plague most of us as human beings when it comes to issues related to our smaller (family) and bigger (tribal) social units. It is a temptation which blinds us from seeing where justice lies, even if it sits as a mountain in front of eyes.
The second excuse I wanted to give my tribesmen was insecurity; this word that has been misused in South Sudan to the extent that once it is flagged no other rational argument is allowed. What insecurity!? I asked myself. Are we not the same people who claimed that the whole of South Sudan is stable except poor greater Upper Nile? I then realized that it might be the cattle rustling internal to those communities that is being characterized as “insecurity”. The second enquiry immediately popped up into my head.
Does it mean that if one sub-clan feels insecure and unable to fend off attacks from another it should pack up and migrate to Equatoria? Does it mean that since the hinterlands of Equatoria are farther away from the other stronger brother (clan) then to hell with seasonal migration to the Sud evergreen wetlands? I then concluded that this was another contemptible pretext that must not be tolerated.
Because of the two pretexts above (unless more such as the usual “we fought for this land” could be brought up by another biased mind) my tribesmen have migrated deep into the hinterlands of Greater Equatoria. I say migrated because what I have seen in Nimule (Eastern) and Lobonok payam (Central), the same in Western Equatoria is nothing short of migration. One time I was in a convoy driving back from Lobonok payam (Central Equaroia) and our movement was brought to a halt by literally thousands of cattle coming from Jonglie state.
Unlike the Miseria who settle in South Sudan for six months in a year, our Jieng migrants have built mud huts and churches (I have seen one such settlement in Lobonok payam). Their territorial circumference in what they termed no man’s land is ridiculously wide that neighboring farmers are forced to reduce the size of their farms. And since zero grazing is not part of our culture, our liberal and proud cows move heads high into farms, as if conscious of the level of protection accorded to them.
One time a farmer whose cassava (Bafra) tree leaves were consumed as lunch by a couple of royal cows gathered courage and went angrily into the New Town of migrants looking for the owners of those unruly beasts/cows. While in the neighborhood, he received sarcastic replies by those whom he came across. They told him: “what do you think cows eat? They also eat Bafra leaves, didn’t you know? How is it a problem to you since you eat the roots? Why are you so mean?” When he told them that the Cassava tree leaves are part of the local’s daily diet (even Dinka eat Bafra leaves by the way), the reply was: why do you eat leaves anyway?
To cut my message short, lest I bore you with more examples in this unorganized article, I want to congratulate the President for leading by example (it’s true, don’t take me for a sycophant). He has transported his own cattle out of Central Equatoira as a demonstration that he intends to enforce justice. Rumor has it that many of them even died on the long journey to Agok, his home area in Warrap State. He has also issued a Presidential Order for all cattle camps to be relocated out of Equatoria and back to their home areas, but his Presidential Order fell into deaf and defiant ears.
In conclusion, the Jieng/Dinka are a great people character. This is a fact that no one could take away, just visit villages of greater Bahar Al-Ghazal region and judge by yourself. While the long war has changed many good cultural attributes that used to be found in the jieng youth, the core cultural decency that characterizes us needs to be safeguarded from being misrepresented by the relatively few (most jieng cattle are still grazed in the Sud wetlands).
What these armed cattle camp owners are transporting to other regions about the Jieng is shameful, to say the least. The level of aggression against unarmed farmers of other regions is also detrimental to peaceful coexistence in South Sudan. These cattle camps must be forced back to greater Bahar Al-Gazal and Junglei if necessary, since we don’t expect cattle camp owners to understand the negative national implications of their transgressions.
Mayen D.M.A. Ayarbior, dmayend@yahoo.com
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