By Bida Elly David
Ambororo cattle herders have refused to adhere to the directive of the Central Equatoria State governor and Yei River County Commissioner to peacefully vacate farmlands.
The Nomadic cattle herders were given 24 hours but have shown no sign of adhering to the orders.
Speaking to the No. 1 Citizen Daily Newspaper yesterday, Commissioner Aggrey Cyrus Kanyikwa said the authorities will now use force to evict the herders.
He said the insecurity caused by the pastoralists had planted fear in farmers as the majority of them desisted from cultivation compared to before.
“On Friday, one of their cattle knocked down an old man in Lasu, and the old man died, and this is one of the worst destructions they have done apart from finishing farmlands,’’ he said.
“The government has decided to forcefully sendoff these people because their presence has caused more harm to farmers as most of them fear going to their gardens to cultivate,’’ he said.
The commissioner highlighted that farmers have faced hard times at the hands of the traitors, as most of their plantations faced total destruction by the cattle of the intruders.
He noted the killing of one of the farmers as the reason behind the government’s decision to sweep the notorious herders out of the county.
“The Falata (Ambororo) community herders have moved to encircle Yei now, and they were all over the area, and now there is no way but to forcefully drag them out to go back where they belong,’’ Aggrey said.
Despite the promise to leave, it has been noticed that the herders are still seen in most parts of Yei.
Cyrus noted that they are not free to operate on their own while the government keeps watching, saying the authority is for the people, so they have to work for them, respectively.
Furthermore, Aggrey noted that apart from the Ambororo community herders, there are still some unwanted herders who were initially told to leave communities within Central Equatoria State in Yei, causing more harm to farming as well.
He stated that those herders still use persuasive language for the communities to allow them to practice pastoralism without knowing the impact.
“They still use persuasive language to penetrate the community in their own ways, but we still need them out to give farmers room to cultivate,’’ he added.
Additionally, the commissioner, in his message, encouraged citizens in South Sudan, particularly in the Central Equatoria State, to practice farming in a bid to fight insecurity.
“We have no other hope; there is no hope in dependence on oil or having money from it; we have to look into our soil and till it produces food, sells it and lives, and pays our children to school,” he added.