Tribal conflict over cattle rustling and the return of abducted children has resulted in attacks in the town of Pibor in Jonglei State of South Sudan. South Sudan gained its independence from the north in July 2011 after the peace agreement in 2005. However tribal conflict within South Sudan is still common. In Pibor, the Lou Nuer and Murle communities are in conflict over cattle. The BBC reported on January 1, 2012, that about 6,000 Lou Nuer fighters attacked the Murle in Lukangol, Pibor, and other towns, burning homes, the hospital, government buildings, and seizing livestock. The United Nations has deployed 800 troops into the region but they are greatly outnumbered by the fighters.
I was in Pibor in 2005 after the signing of the north-south peace accord. Below is an extract from my novel, The Sudan Curse, on the Pibor region.
Outside our tents Jeremy briefed us on possible meetings while we ate lunch and drank cardamom tea. The Commissioner of Akobo County joined us. He offered Jeremy assistance to mediate between the Murle—small in number, but fierce in nature—and the Lou Nuer.
... Sister Glory and I walked to the Medecins Sans Frontieres compound, a substantial distance away. In the town of Pibor Post, a blend of Muslims and Christians busied themselves with daily chores. There was a babble of tongues from traders. A Muslim trader in a white jalebeyah tied white plastic water containers to his flat-tray cart, already laden with rolls of stuffed canvas and an old blue suitcase. His wife wore a pink T-shirt underneath a blue cloth draped around her body and over her head. A man with two children sat cross-legged on a purple blanket beside the cart. Amid the covered Muslim girls were Pibor females with scant pleated skirts that barely graced their bottoms, often bare-breasted or T-shirted but braless and overladen with strings of beads. Greeted by a young Swedish woman at MSF, Junta Gerden, we meandered through the vast cream hospital tents. Malaria was the disease commonly treated, but recently there had been a high number of patients with diarrhea and waterborne parasites due to the lack of uncontaminated water. Since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, they had not treated anyone with conflict wounds. In one tent, on single beds, lay two teenage girls with day-old premature babies, delicate and feeble. One stroked her newborn with a finger, gently making circular motions on the protruding belly. “They have a better chance here. Mary traveled five days on foot to have her baby here. Wise girl,” said Junta.
… Sister Glory and I relaxed on the log in the middle of the market, sipping scented tea. Women confirmed that only months ago the range of vegetables and items for sale was limited. A group of women with their own stall said they remained in their village before the peace agreement and now they sold cabbages at the market. They laughed at their own happiness. After some time we moved onward, talking to traders and buyers. An Arab trader beckoned us to his stall. “As-salaam ’alaykum!” he called out.
I answered, “Wa ’alaykum as-salaam,” as we approached.
He offered us a free bag of dried peas as we discussed trading processes, comparative prices, and the origins of the goods, many of which were arriving from Ethiopia and Kenya. As we approached the compound, the Murle peace committee entered the gate; chiefs, youth, elders, civic authorities, women, and church representatives, talking optimistically about the future of Southern Sudan, but not without reservations. Distance was a prohibiting factor in promoting peace and unity. The large influx of returnees stretched resources, causing minor rifts. Toposa children resumed their education in the Arabic school, and the Nuer, Bor Dinka and other tribes commenced English schooling wherever they could. “No one is opposed to the philosophy of peace, but we need services,” the leader said.
“The pressure is on the peace committee,” said a youth representative.
“Everyone expects us to solve all of their concerns and sometimes they forget that the new state government has a role too. A threat to peace is the impatience of people. We have resumed trading with our neighbors, but some people travel great distances in a day to trade and greed is sure to be present, as well as the unpredictability of production. It won’t be easy.” Jeremy assisted the women of the compound with dinner as the Murle Peace Committee disbanded. The smell of spicy chicken lured us to a pot nestled on hot coals. In darkness we scooped delicious mounds of rice and chicken onto plastic plates. Flashlights flickered in the night.
* * *
Shafts of morning sun glinted on the scorpion’s back. The size of a fingernail, it slipped into my shoe almost unnoticed. Knocking the shoe against a chair to rid it of dirt, the scorpion arched its tail over its back and dropped to the ground making me jump in fright. It scuttled under a cardboard box. Sister Glory remained with Reverend Nganloki in the afternoon after several meetings, while I returned to the compound, finding Jeremy with a pile of papers. “Jeremy, what’s worse, do you think, tribal conflict or north-south war?”
“War is always to be avoided,” he said. “There can be nothing worse. I know why you ask the question. I ask myself the same thing sometimes. Tribes fought continuously with other tribes. In most places, different tribes traded with each other and intermarried, but, in the dry season, tempers flared easily and conflicts occurred. Although, before the civil war, the tribal conflict was with bows and arrows, not guns, as is the case now. Long-term tribalism certainly has a price. It’s pervasive and a greater impediment to economic recovery than war. Ethnic tensions leave permanent scars, such as ineffective governments, less respect for the law, low literacy and schooling, limited access to clean water, and poor healthcare. Worse than that is the underlying fragmentation of society and constant mistrust. For example, if government officials favor one group over another, it can lead to corruption, resentment, or dispute. Ethnic hatred generally runs deep and never goes away. If that was the case, we’d be better off with a president who is more of a warmonger than a tribalist.”
Martina Nicolls is the author of The Sudan Curse (2009)
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