By No. 1 Citizen
Executive Chief of Mangala Payam in Juba County, Central Equatoria State, has attributed the rising insecurity in the area to the presence of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) mainly from Jonglei State.
Speaking during a security meeting chaired by Central Equatoria State Security Advisor at Mangala Payam headquarters on Thursday, Chief, Zakeo Lege said most of the inhabitants of the Payam have been displaced as a result of “incursion by IDPs”.
“The security situation is bad. There is no rest to my people in my Boma of Mangkaro, until now they are all displaced. Some have crossed the river to the side of Jebel Lado and others have moved here in Mangala Town, all the areas have been occupied by IDPs, IDPs are now in charge of their areas. These are the issues affecting us in Mangala or Mangkaro Boma, it pains a lot,” Lege said.
Chief Lege accused the IDPs of betraying “the hospitality accorded to them when they were displaced by flood.”
“You are the owner of the house and a stranger you warmly welcome and rendered a space to settle in, later turn wild and force you out of your own ancestral land where you were given birth in, these are the things that have upset us in Mangkaro Boma,” he added.
Lege pointed out that efforts to return the IDPs of Mangala to their ancestral land in the past were met with a deterrent impasse by “some of the Jonglei IDPs”
“Some said, we have not forced you out of your land come back, we said fine, we will come back. But the moment a person makes an attempt to come out from the riverside, he will be shot at. Now, is there really peace among us, definitely there is no peace among us,” he exclaimed.
The Executive chief called on the State government to address the issue of insecurity in Mangala to pave the way for the return of IDPs to “their ancestral land.”
While responding to the accusations, Chau Jok the chief of Jonglei IDPs, contested all the assertions by the executive chief of Mangala Payam.
Chief Chau said his community have lived peacefully with the host community and attributed insecurity in the area to “unknown armed men”.
Chau said the presence of IDPs from Jonglei helped restore peace in Mangala Payam between the two host communities.
“When we came here, we didn’t come on our own from there, we came because of the issue of flood displacement based on an agreement between Central Equatoria and Jonglei State, and we didn’t come by force. We got the people of Bari and Mundari were engulfed in a fight. The Bari community had evacuated themselves far from here and when we came in their midst, that was when the Bari community came back here, and we have been with them all these while,” he said.
The IDP’s representative said his community will go back to Jonglei once the flooding situation returns to normal.
“We are saying the land belongs to Central Equatoria, we don’t own a land here. What forced us from there is the flood, if the flood stops, we will still go back to our land.”
Chau further refuted claims that his community were involved in causing insecurity in Mangala Payam
“What our brothers are saying is that we are the ones killing people, we are not killing people. There is security and when we came here security forces were brought and the huts you see here are theirs, they are joint forces, how can you claim that there is insecurity yet we have these people here,” he said.
Chau encourages host communities to stop blaming others and instead find better solutions to the insecurity in the area.
“When two of our people were killed in that place called Arial, we did not say it was the Bari or Mundari community who committed it. And if we are to count the number of our people killed here, they are more than 15, including those who die in the bush, we don’t blame them on Bari or Mundari,” he stated.
The Minister of Local Government for Central Equatoria State, Leon Abe Brown, encouraged both the host communities and IDPs to embrace peace among themselves.
“And we have called you as a family, as our people, such that you vomit the bad things out, let the wind blew it there, so that love will reign, and people will have understandings and people should have respect for each other,” the Minister said
Minister Abe said the government of Central Equatoria State will ensure promotion of peaceful coexistence among the population in the state.
The Advisor for Peace and Security for Central Equatoria State Angelo Daya Lodu also advised the head of the organized forces in Mangala to safeguard citizens of the payam against external attacks.
“Mangala has six kilometers; from the direction of Juba, six kilometers, on the direction of Jemeza, six Kilometers, to the riverside, six kilometers and to the desert, this is the area that the head of security is in charge of. A distance of 6km square, Mangala is under your responsibility. Anybody from Juba who enters here will know that this is a different place,” Angelo said.
Mangala Payam is a strategic town located along the highway leading to Jonglei State. It is contested by two counties, Juba and Terkeka, of Central Equatoria State, with both sides claiming jurisdiction over the area.
In order to quell speculations by affiliates of both counties, the Payam has been given the status of ‘an administrative payam,’ allowing it to stand alone.