Ex-Warrap governor urges Tonj Community to embrace unity, peace

JUBA – The Chairperson of Tonj Community and former governor of Warrap state, Lewis Anei Madut, has appealed to Tonj Community to shun conflict and embrace peace and unity in order to restore stability in the State.

Madut made this call during a community meeting held in Juba on Saturday.

“As your new leader and my team, I promise you that we will be embarking on peacebuilding, reconciliation, and forgiveness and healing,” Madut said after the meeting on Saturday in Juba.

Madut said that peace remains the only index for sustainable growth and development in greater Tonj.

“Equally, your community leadership will build synergies with other community leaders with the aim of establishing community leadership at the state level and beyond,” Madut said.

Madut said Tong has been awash with guns, and rival clashes all too often turn deadly.

“Very many factors led to this kind of conflict, our people when they were allowed to access guns, to get the guns and when there was no strong government, they took the rule of law into their own hands and each became a predator to the other.”

He said the absence of rule of law has led to an escalation of violence in the state.

“In the absence of rule of law, the violence escalated into raiding of cattle among themselves and into killing which have no ethnic reason behind it,” he said.

“Tonj community leadership is under my responsibility and I will work with youth union and women association to ensure unity is strengthened.”

Warrap State is prone to violent cattle raids among armed youth which have often left hundreds of civilians killed.

This cycle of sub-national violence has often left the security situation fragile in South Sudan, despite rival political elites signing the 2018 revitalized peace deal to end years of the political conflict that broke out in December 2013.