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STORY: SOUTH SUDAN / DINKA MURLE PEACE TALKS
TRT: 2:46
SOURCE: UNMISS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NUER / DINKA
DATELINE: 01 APRIL 2019, MANYIBOL, SOUTH SUDAN
1. Various shots, cows
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Hawa Aganas, UNMISS Civil Affairs Officer:
“Issues of cattle raiding and child abduction have been between these two communities…if you remember last year their were cattle raids in Pauel, Marr, Jalel so the communities are aggrieved. That’s why the two governments approached Civil affairs to try and bring their people together to discuss their issues and come up with resolutions.”
3. Various shots, shot, Dinka Chief giving his concerns to the gathering
4. SOUNDBITE (Dinka) Malak Ayuen Mayen, Dinka Paramount Chief:
“The problem it has become a culture or something that is addicted. Child abduction is something that came from their forefathers up to date. It is still being practiced. The problem of cattle raiding is poverty that cause people to go and rain other peoples cattle to have wealth and it is a problem that exist up to now.”
5. Various shots,, Group with Murle Chief speaking
6. SOUNDBITE (Murle) John Gulech Logocho, Murle Paramount Chief:
“It is the first conference that I have decided to hold, and as one of the founders of this initiative. The Governor David Yau Yau and Governor of Jonglei state Philip Aguer come and implement so I have to implement what we agree and keep it as mine.”
7. Med shot, Murle Chiefs seated
8. SOUNDBITE (Murle) Rebecca Konyi Ibon, Murle Women Leader:
“We, the elders of both sides, were the ones advising our youth to do these things [the child abductions and cattle raids],” she admits. “But now all of us have come together as one family and agreed that we will create peace awareness. Each one of us elders will talk to our families and communities to make sure that this does not happen again.”
9. Med shot, White board listing dialogue priorities
10. Various shots, Dinka Chief speaking to group
11. SOUNDBITE (Dinka) Angelina Nyankuer Tong, Dinka Women Leader:
“The situation is getting worse and our lives are becoming more difficult, so we have realized that we need peace. There has to peace so that they can come and help people in their areas. When there is peace there is development as all this assistance can arrive.”
12. Wide shot, Dinka and Murle Chief sitting to sign peace agreement
13. Wide shot, Both chiefs holding raised hands in victory
The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said that possible peace is in the pipeline as Dinkas and Murles in Jonglei agree to end age-old hostilities.
Representatives of two feuding foes, the Dinka Bor and the Murle communities in the Greater Jonglei region in South Sudan, are all dressed to their nines.
They have just signed an agreement to establish a joint, UN-coordinated committee faced with the daunting task of tackling the age-old vice of stealing children and cows from each other, with a tremendous amount of human lives lost in the process.
Not all processes are equal, however, with some requiring more patience and persistence than others. Attempting to bring inter-communal peace to the region belongs to that category. In fact, hostilities go so far back in time that nobody remains alive to tell the tale and explain how and why they once started. Some feel that this fighting over cows and abducting children has been going on for over 500 years.
Over the last six months or so, developments have taken a turn for the worse, with several major attacks having taken place. These cattle raids and child abductions have claimed more human lives than usual. For this reason, requesting the government to conduct civilian disarmament to collect the guns from the youths of both ethnic communities, is also part of the agreement reached on this day.
Some sixty people, a handful of women amongst them, evenly divided between the Dinka Bor and the Murle communities from different parts of Greater Jonglei, have once again gathered under the watchful eye of the UNMISS Civil Affairs Division (CAD) to discuss their differences. The CAD brought the parties together with the aim to come up with ways of ending the hostilities.
SOUNDBITE (English) Hawa Aganas, UNMISS Civil Affairs Officer:
“Issues of cattle raiding and child abduction have been between these two communities…if you remember last year their were cattle raids in Pauel, Marr, Jalel so the communities are aggrieved. That’s why the two governments approached Civil affairs to try and bring their people together to discuss their issues and come up with resolutions.”
The meeting took place in Manyabol, a Murle area situated more or less halfway between the towns of Bor and Pibor, strongholds for Dinkas and Murles respectively.
Being on home turf, Malak’s Murle counterpart, the Kubal West paramount chief John Gulech Logocho, affirms that he now feels particularly committed to reaching sustainable peace.
SOUNDBITE (Murle) John Gulech Logocho, Murle Paramount Chief:
“It is the first conference that I have decided to hold, and as one of the founders of this initiative. The Governor David Yau Yau and Governor of Jonglei state Philip Aguer come and implement so I have to implement what we agree and keep it as mine.”
An oft-repeated, mantra-like affirmation is that the Dinka-Murle hostilities are so deeply ingrained that they have become a self-perpetuating “culture”, or everlasting circle of attacks and revenge attacks, that is near-impossible to break away from.
SOUNDBITE (Dinka) Malak Ayuen Mayen, Dinka Paramount Chief:
“The problem it has become a culture or something that is addicted. Child abduction is something that came from their forefathers up to date. It is still being practiced. The problem of cattle raiding is poverty that cause people to go and rain other peoples cattle to have wealth and it is a problem that exist up to now.”
This sense of resignation and inevitability is still voiced by attendees, even though everyone involved is aware that the seemingly unnecessary human suffering is detrimental to both groups.
Some, like Rebecca Konyi Ibon, leader of the Murle women in Manyabol, are more inclined to assume responsibility for fatal attacks than others.
SOUNDBITE (Murle) Rebecca Konyi Ibon, Murle Women Leader:
“We, the elders of both sides, were the ones advising our youth to do these things [the child abductions and cattle raids],” she admits. “But now all of us have come together as one family and agreed that we will create peace awareness. Each one of us elders will talk to our families and communities to make sure that this does not happen again.”
Addressing those in attendance, chief Gulech echoed Ms. Konyi’s admission, but also hinted that political outsiders have been involved in destabilizing relations between Dinkas and Murles.
During the meeting the chiefs took responsibility for their children dying. They believe that they should work hand in hand and stay away from politics in order to secure a better future for their children.
A milestone from the talk is that poverty is a root cause of the hostilities, with both sides recognizing that desperation makes people resort to raids and abductions. The prevailing violence, in turn, means that much-needed humanitarian assistance is far less likely to be provided.
SOUNDBITE (Dinka) Angelina Nyankuer Tong, Dinka Women Leader:
“The situation is getting worse and our lives are becoming more difficult, so we have realized that we need peace. There has to peace so that they can come and help people in their areas. When there is peace there is development as all this assistance can arrive.”
Chief Malak Ayuen Mayen praises the current “good leadership”, the governors of the predominantly Murle-inhabited Boma area and the Dinka-dominated land surrounding Bor, for a new way of thinking, with a focus on modernization and education.
The chiefs agreed that should the cattle raiding continue it will cause their people to remain in darkness, and their children will remain without education. They will follow the same lives of stealing and all of this.
His Murle counterpart Gulech Logocho shared the optimism. A visible sign of Murle goodwill, he said, is that his ethnic group, led by governor David Yau Yau, has tracked down and returned 26 abducted children and 189 heads of cattle to the Dinka Bor community.
Cattle is recognized as the supreme currency and the sign of wealth and status by both sides, with small girls, worth many cows when, or even before, they reach the legal age of marriage, primarily being abducted to be traded for instant, bovine-shaped cash. A marriage-inclined man will need the cattle to pay a hefty dowry, sometimes amounting to hundreds of precious cows, to the family of the bride he has set his eyes on.
Murle and Dinka representatives readily acknowledged that this traditional practice directly contributes to the perpetual cycle of inter-communal cattle raiding. However, they believe that increased intermarriage between the two groups can reduce hostilities, is unlikely to lead to the lowering or abolishment of dowries anytime soon.
As part of the Manyabol agreement, UNMISS is requested not only to lead the reconciliation process going forward, but also to build “peace centres” in areas where neighbouring Dinka and Murle youth can continue to discuss their differences.
