The South Sudanese religious leaders emphasize the need for collective initiatives for lasting peace for the people of God in their region, saying, “We need to come together and address this issue although we have our individual initiatives.”
“We need to develop a collective approach to end violence for our people to live in peace,” they further say.
“Let us put aside our differences and work toward a united country,” the faith leaders say, and add, “It’s our conviction that our joint and sincere efforts will one day be rewarded with sustainable peace.”
On February 3, 27 people were reportedly killed in South Sudan’s Kajo-Keji County in Central Equatoria State in a violence conflict involving cattle herders and militia fighters.
According to Reuters, the February 3 violence in Kajo-Keji County started after fighters from a rebel group killed six people from a herding community. The herders retaliated by killing 21 civilians in a nearby area.
The victims included five children and a pregnant woman, Kajo-Keji County Commissioner, Phanuel Dumo, was quoted as saying.
In their February 18 collective statement, the faith leaders lament killings, saying, “Our people are now hopeless because they are being killed, their properties looted for no just cause in their own country.”
“Our people are being killed and nothing is done by the people who are supposed to give protection to them,” they further lament, and continue, “When we listen to our people they are really traumatized as the situation continues to worsen and nothing is being done.”
The faith leaders in South Sudan’s Central Equatoria State further say they find it regrettable that despite their interventions, “the conflict keeps increasing instead of decreasing.”
“We have talked to the President, the governors, and other top government officials but it seems the more we talk as Churches the more the conflict is increasing,” they lament.
