Terekeka IDPs urge government to resolve Jor-Kogi dispute

Displaced communities in Terekeka County are calling on the Central Equatoria State government to resolve the longstanding dispute between the Jor and Kogi communities to allow them to return home.

The appeal follows deadly intercommunal violence in February that displaced thousands of people from their areas of origin.

The displaced families say they remain unable to return because the dispute has not been resolved and security guarantees have not been provided.

They are currently staying in different areas of Terekeka County, where they say they face shortages of food, clean drinking water, medicine and other basic services.

Kurubino Lado, an internally displaced person from Koor or Kogi Boma, says his community lost food and livestock during the violence.

He says the situation has been made worse by the failure of their crops following a prolonged dry spell.

“We can’t go back to our homes, yet the government can’t help intervene. For all these to improve, government should look into our situation,” Lado said.

He is calling on the state government to facilitate their return home.

“We need to be repatriated back to our homes. At least we can go and eat tree leaves. Your home is better than the area you are being hosted.”

Magdelina Wasuk, another displaced resident from the Kor community, says families are struggling to meet their basic needs in displacement.

She says the community lacks adequate healthcare, education, food and safe drinking water.

“We have nowhere to go now. There is no medicine. Children are now dying due to lack of hospitals. Children have no school,” Wasuk said.

She says displaced families are also relying on water from the Nile for drinking.

“We call on the government to quickly intervene and provide these needs—food, clean water for drinking, and medicine,” she said.

Meanwhile, Wulijira Maya, a teacher supporting the displaced community, says dialogue and reconciliation between the Jor and Kogi communities are necessary to end the repeated violence.

He says the state government should address the root causes of the dispute and facilitate reconciliation.

“People fight, even brothers. But the most important thing is to sit them down, dialogue and reconcile,” Maya said.

Maya claims no senior state government official has visited the displaced communities since the February violence, apart from the county commissioner.

He says government intervention is needed to restore security and enable the displaced families to return to their homes.

“My message to the government is for them to come and make these two communities reconcile so that both communities return to their homes of origin,” he said.

The displaced communities are now urging the Central Equatoria State government to prioritize dialogue and reconciliation between the two sides, saying a lasting resolution to the dispute is key to their safe return