Cattle keepers pass through Pageri in Eastern Equatoria State | Credit | Tobias Abuchan‎/Facebook

The Bishop of the Christian Brotherhood in Eastern Equatoria State says the presence of cattle in the defunct Pageri County is obstructing the return of refugees and agricultural activities.

There are thousands of South Sudanese refugees in Uganda – most of whom fled from the Equatoria region during the 2013 and 2016 violence.

According to Bishop Nicola Oling, most of these refugees are willing to return to their respective homes.

He, however, says the presence of herders, mainly from Jonglei, in the area is making it hard for the indigenous who are particularly farmers to settle.

Oling he appeals to the government to act and repatriate cattle herders from the area.

“We have come to see the minster, informed him of what is happening in our country corridor especially about the cattle,” Oling said after meeting Onyoti Adigo, the Minister of Livestock in Juba on Tuesday.

“The Madis are agriculturalists and there are a lot of cattle these days moving to Madi land and God has brought us peace and we are I the era of peace in South Sudan. We thank God for this and our people are hoping to come back but with the presence of the cattle in their area, it is difficult for the people to come back. So we have come to exchange ideas on how best the issue of cattle can be solved.”

For his part, the Minister of Livestock, Onyoti Adigo, says the government is working to address the issue of the herders.

“We listened to the grievances they are in that is first of all the cattle which are now occupying of the areas of the Madi Land despite the fact that his excellency the President has given directives that all the cattle should go back to their original destinations which is not happening,” the minister acknowledged.

“The report which they are giving us now is that there are big trucks heading to that area which I promise that we will look into this and we even try to see what are the possible ways of addressing the issue of cattle.”

In 2015, President Salva Kiir issued a decree ordering cattle keepers to move all their livestock out of the Greater Equatoria region but with the renewal of conflict in 2016, many people fled to refugee camps.

In 2019, local leaders representing pastoralists and farmers formed a committee to facilitate the movement of cattle out of farming areas in Greater Equatoria.

But the directives have so far not been implemented by neither the organized forces nor the cattle keepers.