By Anak Dut

Communities of Mayom County of Unity State and Abiemnon County of Ruweng Administartive Area convened in Juba for dialogue and reconciliation.

The forum in Juba intends to forge unity among the two communities following the April’s deadly clashes in Abiemnon.

The dialogue is facilitated by the People’s Initiative Development Organisation in partnership with Brethren Global Services.

It brought together elders, chiefs, youth and women representatives from both communities.

Speaking at the launch of the conference, Moses  Pieng Deng, a national government representative who hails from Mayom County, said Mayom County and Abiemnon have lived together for a long together as one community.

He urged the authorities concerned to find out the root cause of the current conflicts among the communities so that they can be addressed.

“Let this peace and reconciliation that we are discussing not only be spoken words, because peace begins with us, and it needs to be put into action.”

“Cattle raiding is the root cause of these conflicts and not politics or power,” Pieng said.

“This is not politics that we are discussing, but conflicts that have claimed the lives of many in these two communities.”

He further called on the authorities to find the perpetrators from the two communities and bring them to send a message to others.

According to him, there is no history that the communities have had conflicts before.

He called on the two communities to address the differences among them before calling on the government to intervene because they are the ones who now better their differences.

“Anyone who will again cause violence will face the law.”

“It doesn’t add anything to see your neighbours bleeding when you are at peace.  Your neighbour’s problem is equally your problem, so it is our collective responsibility to work towards  peace that we need in Mayom and Abiemnon,” Pieng explained.

A representative of the Women and Member of Parliament, Angelina Chol Kiir, admitted that members of the community are involved in cattle rustling, but the perpetrators are not brought to book because no one reports.

“I can say it is the responsibility of the government to arrest those who raid cattle and support revenge killings,” she said.

She called on the elders to address the root causes, which she said include cattle raiding.