A young herdsman poses with a semi-automatic weapon. | Credit | AFP

First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar has echoed calls against forceful disarmament, saying it could create more instability in South Sudan.

South Sudanese have often asked the government to stop the illegal possession of arms as a means to end communal violence in the country.

Some have proposed forceful disarmament as the solution to curbing the deadly communal clashes.

In a report, Small Arms Survey organization noted that as of 2011, there were between 1.9 and 3.2 million small arms in circulation, with about two-thirds of these in the hands of civilians.

According to the UN Human Rights Commissioner, the nature of the intercommunal conflicts in South Sudan has taken on an increasingly militarized stage, with military-style tactics and military-grade weapons.

It revealed that organized and heavily armed militias carry out planned and coordinated attacks on villages with fighters, dressed in a mix of military fatigues and civilian clothes.

They often attack in broad daylight, indiscriminately killing people with machetes, knives, AK-47s, and on some occasions, rocket-propelled grenades.

The first vice president believes the situation is fragile for the government to conduct forceful disarmament.

“If you do it [disarmament] by force, you will create more violence; it needs persuasion,” Dr. Machar said in Juba on Tuesday during the launch of the Leadership Retreat for the State Ministers of Peace Building and state chairpersons of peace commission.

“Our first challenge is, how do we persuade our population to give up ownership of arms in the state?”

In July 2020, President Salva Kiir launched the disarmament campaign in parts of the country in an attempt to end the cycle of violence in the restive states.

The voluntary handing over of arms campaign targeted armed civilians in Lakes, Terekeka, Warrap and Jonglei, among other areas, where violence over cattle, revenge killing, and banditry had worsened.

But some communities clashed with the disarmament forces – often arguing that the initiative by the government could leave them vulnerable to attacks.

In his interview with the Kenyan television, Citizen TV, President Kiir also expressed reservation over instituting forceful disarmament.

He suggested buying firearms from the civilians.

“The only way to get them out is buying off from them – that is to tell a person that ‘If you give us your guns, you will be given this’,” Kiir stated.

The South Sudan Action Network on Small Arms recommends the destruction of arms and ammunition collected from the communities to avoid the reflow to the villages.

It also said the local people want the government to stop the main sources of arms that spill into their communities.