By Mary Poni
Citizens of Kajo-Keji County are yet again grappling with invading cattle herders that are destroying livelihoods, instilling fears in the returnees who have come back from refugee camps to rebuild their broken walls.
Office of the commissioner said the county residents are losing trust in the government for being slow in deploying the recently graduated unified forces to at least rescue their situation from the insecurities caused by the marauding cattle herders from Bor, tormenting farming communities in the Equatoria region.
“Basically, the citizens of Kajo-Keji have lost hope in the government for the fact that they graduated over thousands of unified forces to grant security in the country but instead the worst things (violence) still keep on happening to the people of Kajo-Keki and in other states,” said Jimmy, the press secretary in the office of Kajo-Keji County Commissioner.
Jimmy told No.1 Citizen Daily Newspaper exclusively of recent atrocities by cattle herders that invaded Kajo-Keji County again for the second time.
He said the cattle herders’ presence could be vividly seen in Kinyiba, Kangapo 2 Payam in the past week and they are currently in Kansuk Boma of Nyepo Payam, Kajo-Keji.
He said the herders have entered the residence and backyard of locals with their cattle stirring fears and chaos.
“The cattle keepers want to enter the residence not only to look after their cattle but also with the intention of looting people’s properties and that was the reason for the cries of women,” he said.
He stated that the failure of security comes from the government because the peace agreement has been signed and all the unified forces have been taken to the training centers to be trained so that they can become one force.
“Now if our own South Sudanese are threatening the people of Kajo-Keji like this then how can our people of Kajo-Keji understand that there are unified forces?” Jimmy questioned.
Jimmy said they were planning to send a force from Kansuk military garrison to at least intervene to go and rescue the victims and send the herders away so that those civilians can live in peace because no one knows what the (cattle herders) plans are apart from looting people’s properties.
“With their cattle, they come to the families and the family owners are now crying,” he noted.