Abandoned homes in a Lainya County villages | Credit | Professaur Daddi Yanga Williamz

At least three people have been killed and one wounded by suspected cattle herders in Lainya County of Central Equatoria State.

The herders are said to be part of those displaced following communal clashes near Juba in November 2020.

In January 2021, a peace conference between farmers and cattle keepers in Lainya resolved that cattle keepers from Terekeka must leave the area to avoid such confrontations.

However, the agreement largely remained unimplemented, with cattle still roaming in the area.

Fresh clashes resumed over the weekend after armed cattle keepers allegedly raided some villages.

According to Hon. Joyce Dusman, a member of the yet-to-be reconstituted parliament, the violence is being witnessed in Kupera and the surrounding villages.

“Cattle keepers are well armed, with machine guns – PKM, AK-47 and they have new bullets. Even our army alone doesn’t have the arms cattle keepers have,” she told Eye Radio.

Hon. Dusman added that hundreds of people have yet again been displaced by the fighting.

In 2016, the president issued an order banning cattle keepers from entering Equatoria region where farmers cultivate.

The President also instructed cattle keepers mainly from Terekeka, Jonglei and greater Lakes states to leave farming lands.

This was to help prevent violence over grazing areas, and to keep the farmlands safe for production.

However, the order is yet to be fully implemented.