By James Chatim

Warrap State authority has reported that the communal violence in the area have reduced to small scale after initiatives carried out by the State Governor to implement the directives by President Salva Kiir during his swearing-in ceremony last October.

This was revealed to the City Review on Sunday by the State Information Minister, William Wol Mayom.

On December 9, Warrap State Governor, Francis Marial Abur, met President Kiir in his office and briefed him about the state’s general security situation.

Governor Marial highlighted the issues of communal violence and cattle raiding as main issues that exacerbated tensions among the communities.

Marial further emphasized on his government’s efforts to bring peace in the state through community-driven initiatives, aimed at fostering dialogue and cooperation among conflicting groups in the region as the only remedial approaches to quell the predominantly existing tensions in the State.

According to the state’s Information Minister, Governor Marial has made efforts by involving all the stakeholders to bring peace in the state, which, he said, had returned calm to some areas with the exception of places that are difficult to access.

 “Between Abyei and Twic communities, the national government has made some deployment. And therefore, they have tried to maintain peace, although there are reported isolated incidents related to the conflict. But the conflict has reduced from the full scale to some sort of road ambushes and targeted killing. But otherwise, peace has come between Twic and Ngok community of Abyei,” said the state information minister.

“The governor has tried to bring peace among the communities of one state. Except that there are isolated incidents, particularly in the Greater Tonj. Tonj has been in communal conflict for a very long time. Upon the arrival of the governor, he has tried to initiate reconciliation among the communities in the village of Tonj.  And now there is relatively peace in the area, as well as in Tonj,” he said.

“But on other sides of Tonj, there is no access in the area of Lou Ariik, whereby there is a reported incident.  But it has also reduced. So far that we have actually requested the UNMISS Civil Affairs Office to facilitate peace and reconciliation process in the area. And hopefully, when the crisis calms, the governor and all key government stakeholders of Warrap, will be led by the governor to Lou Ariik.  And finally, peace will come to the area,” he said, and added:

“Although there is tension, there is relatively also peace in the area. “We are already involved. We have involved the community leaders. They are working side-by-side with the government. We are also involved with the UNMISS Civil Affairs Department. They are also supporting on the side of peace. We are also involved with civil society organizations, NGOs and leaders, who are working closely with the government.”

The Minister said that the government also included intellectuals in the peace-making efforts.

“Like the recent peace in Long Arik, which was also initiated by the citizens, we had intellectuals. A team called Peace and Reconciliation Committee was formed, supported by the government. They have tried their best and brought both communities together. There is now relative calm in the area. So, all the stakeholders are part and parcel of the peace process in the state, including the local NGOs and UN agencies,” he stated.