The Draggy Tribal Conflict over Panwel – Anuet
6 min readThe Draggy Tribal Conflict over Panwel – Anuet: Why do we ruin our proud history of Greater Bor Community for Meaningless Conflict?
By David Matiop Gai, Juba, South Sudan
February 12, 2018 (SSB) — Abii of Cueikeer, fighting over Panwel-Anuet until a big number of 33 people died! Who bewitched you wise people of Greater Bor community that I see Panwel-Anuet conflict took the lives of 20 people in December 2017 and definitely 13 people on 7th of February 2018 have gone a journey of no returning back, and more others were seriously injured? The source of livelihoods is gone wasting and damaging resources such as cows, goats, granaries are burned down, and homes are destroyed.
Why such behaviours came in slowly into our affairs? Where is the source of our wise decision on how to handle conflicts among ourselves before? Before, we do proud of ourselves by then as great people who love life, protect life and care for life, because we were people born on the land and soil of law, justice, respect of human life and human dignity, human rights, unity, peace, and freedom. We are born lawyers without professional training.
We observe laws and keep laws from homes, towns, cattle camps, and wherever we go. We know laws that govern us and others. We also respect government even if our sons are the one leading it or whenever they are out of government. We respect leaders both traditional chiefs and government leaders; leaders guide us and we guide them, and now where are we heading to?
Disappointedly and sorrowfully, why do we copy and paste behaviours of killings and shedding blood of innocent people while our grandfathers/mothers taught us cautiously of cures of shedding innocent bloods? We were the people known for carefulness and tackling against things that pull down or break up our togetherness in community; so that relations reconstruction is not impossible. To cause death, no, not acceptable, we are people known for popular conflict approaches and theories of “Kon-Koc”, we first identify the cause of conflict, and analyse it with consequences war before we choose it.
To take the life a person or people unlawfully were not our culture. We believe that somebody may not die in your hands, or your hands should be free from being term as murderer; or if anybody is dying should die on his/her own risks or for the wrong done by person so that his/her blood /life is not on our neck. Did we forget our beliefs? And I believe these beliefs were connected to God before the whole community converted to Christianity. To impire severely somebody life is not acceptable. The teachable history or stories of Greater Bor community are totally shaken by tribal conflict. Where is our spirit of togetherness?
My advice to our community, it is unwise decision to allow conflict rule over us and destroy the affairs of community livelihoods. It is also stupid enough to allow army in your area by creating conflict and they came in for punishment, eating up your farms products, sleeping with your girls and young women whether through agreement or rapping, eating your cows, and mentally disturbing your normalcy. An army is not good enough even if your sons are there in the army to separate you from conflict, they are no longer your sons, they are oriented soldiers as nationalists and whatever they see that interrupts normalcy in the country; they can use whatever means to stop it because they don’t care. It is too dangerous to choose conflict as the final choice for achieving Panwel – Anuet objectives in the same community.
Although my writing goes to greater Bor Community wherever they are and to youths of Abii in particular, am so sad, but as I write this opinion article, I know nobody will listen to my appealing because youths are busy killing themselves over there; and nowadays, human philosophy is totally corrupted from the truth. There are high risks prevailing, personal thoughts and political thoughts have become at a high risk points against human lives, but it is better to listen from someone for dear lives.
Abii as part of Kolnyang payam is inhabited by interrelated clans of Awaan, Biong, Nyarai, and other groups not mentioned herein, they know very well that as Greater Bor community, we have had number of disputed issues in the past, but they were not handled through the guns barrels. In 2007, there was Kongor and Adhiok conflict, and it was solved; in Baidit payam, Angakuei alone had disputes of cattle camps between Liith and Kwai clans but it was resolved, there was also problem between Adumuot and Koc conflict and it was solved, and in 2010-2012, issue of Deer-Koc conflict was rising alarm, but it was also resolved peacefully. This is how we handle conflict in Bor, not through gun barrel.
I urge our MPs, the leader of Bor South, Leader of Twice East, Leader of Duke, and Leader of Greater Bor Community Michael Makuei Lueth, traditional chiefs, youth leaders, and women groups to join hands and quench this conflict immediately. You need guys to come up with serious measures of resolving this conflict once and for all. Sometimes when conflict took place and leaders just intervened to stop the conflict while lacking skills and knowledge to maintain peace, it gives conflict gaps preparation for victims to wage massive revenge.
Wrong perceptions and wrong messages always sent deadly events. Evildoers are the best messagers for sending rumours among the people, but if we identify and analyse things correctly, not like the way we perceived them as raw ideas, we will always remained great and a greater community of our time. Look! Naming places in your area does not own particular place. For example, there is Hai Malakal in Juba, but it does not mean it is original Malakal town in Juba, it is just honouring Malakal town in Juba.
There is Hai Kwait in Juba, it is not a Kwait that Kwait people may claims the area; it is a naming only in South Sudan. We have Kampala road in Bor, but Ugandan will not claim Bor where Kampala road owned name, it is a honouring it. So issues of naming areas should be search after them softly whether there is something behind naming or not, before it create disputes.
In our communities, we have traditional chiefs all over Greater Bor Community; they are abit relaxed due to lawlessness in the country. We have to empower them like before in order to solve community issues because they are well acquainted with traditional boundaries and the people. But with this Cueikeer conflict, many people died in the hands of their own relatives, and being buried in the ground leaving Panwel-Anuet behind on earth as the same area within Abii clan.
So I will end my disappointment to sub-clans of Cueikeer to look for a peaceful means of resolving disputes and conflicts because still their conflict will later deserves round table talks, and law is a powerful police to render them whatever name owned the area and whatever name they want,
Thanks, God bless Greater Bor Community and South Sudan as a whole.
The author is a co-founder of South Sudan Mental Healthcare Organization, (SSMHCO). He holds Bachelor degree in Social Work and Social Administration from SSCUST, Bachelor of Theology from CLT, Bungoma, Kenya/Kalispell, USA, and a fellow researcher. He can be reached at david.matiopgai@gmail.com.
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