Feb 6, 2015(Nyamilepedia) — Following the unfortunate incident in Dejeri village of Northern Bari Payam on Sunday 18th 2015, between some Mundari cattle herders and some community members of Dejeri which culminated into loss of precious lives, injury of scores of people, burning of residences, displacement of residents from Kwὃrὃjik-Luri, and untold suffering of the people affected.
The Mundari Community Union (MCU) and the entire Mundari Community residents in Juba held an emergency community meeting on Friday 23rd January 2015, in which the sitting condemned in the strongest terms possible the incident of Dejeri (Kwὃrὃjik-Luri) and regretted the loss of dear lives and property. The participants sent their heart-felt and sincere condolences to the grieved families and pray to the Almighty God to rest the souls of the deceased in eternal peace, and give their families strength and faith.
The meeting unanimously resolved the following:
- The meeting appeals for peace to prevail and all persons involved should refrain from all acts of violence with immediate effect and the perpetrators of these heinous acts should be brought to book.
- Immediate removal of the Mundari cattle from Kwὃrὃjik-Luri and the surrounding areas with the help of the Hon. Commissioners of Terekeka and Juba counties and other State Law enforcement agencies.
- The Mundari cattle herders catering for sizable cattle which belong to some Bari community members must hand over those herds peacefully to their rightful owners before departure to avoid any future claims.
- The meeting rejects and condemn in the strongest terms the unfounded rumors and provocative propaganda by the enemies of peace that the two communities are mobilizing to attack each other.
- Leaders of both communities (elders, intellectuals, chiefs, women, youth, civil society and other opinion leaders) should stand firm and work together as a team so as to de-escalate the tension.
- To avoid future incidences of the same nature; the participants recommended that the State government organizes the County Commissioners in Central Equatoria to arrange and facilitate the return of all Mundari cattle camps wherever they are in the State to the county.
- The participants resolved to request the state government to facilitate and support convening of a truth, peace and reconciliation conference in the State for conflict resolution and mitigation and to draw participants from the various sectors of the communities in the state.
- To avoid the existing scenario from replicating itself, we urge the government of the State and development partners to pay more and indeed special attention to service delivery for Terekeka County especially in construction of dams to provide potable water for both human and animal consumption.
- The participants requested the State government to facilitate an urgent meeting between the two communities as soon as possible.
In conclusion, as mentioned above, the incident is not an intended/ organized conflict, and we reiterate that we are not in conflict with each other but what happened was an individual case of misunderstanding between some cattle keepers and some farmers in Dejeri village of Kwὃrὃjik-Luri.
It should be known that, the Mundari and the Bari Communities since time in memorial has coexisted in peace. Therefore there is no base for these wild rumors. Hence, the meeting calls for continuous calm and peace in order to promote unity and harmony amongst the Bari and Mundari in particular and the entire people of our beloved state.
Signed by:
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Wani Buyu Dyὃri Taban Emmanuel Baya
Deputy Chairperson Acting Secretary General
Mundari Community Union Mundari Community Union
