A South Sudanese MP has raised an alarm in parliament over a series of deadly attacks in Jonglei State, calling for urgent measures to protect civilians from escalating communal violence.
Michael Ayuen Johnson, a member of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly representing Bor County, detailed a number of incidents he said were carried out by armed youth from the Murle community.
Speaking on Tuesday, Ayuen said that on 14 November, an attack in the area of Panak killed two women and injured three others.
He told MPs that the violence continued days later with another woman killed in Tibek on 19 November, and a separate road ambush near the Mogiri military camp on the same day which resulted in another death.
“The whole South Sudan is represented in this house,” Ayuen said. “We are members that come from all the villages in South Sudan, and we here live in harmony… Why are we unable to stop these atrocities being committed by our own people against themselves?”
He expressed frustration that such violence continues more than a decade after the country’s independence.
“Enough is enough,” he said. “We keep reducing our population every single day, and it is the human being, the population, that enforces viable reform. It is a population that enforces security of the country.”
Lawmaker Ayuen urged his fellow lawmakers to take personal responsibility by visiting their constituencies to promote peace, even if financial resources are limited.
Dispute and Broader Context
However, the MP’s account was challenged by Achol Thomas Agak, a representative of the Pibor Administrative Area, who noted that people are being killed across South Sudan, not only in Bor.
“People are dying everywhere across South Sudan. Even the Murle are also dying,” Ms. Achol said.
Jonglei State and the neighbouring Greater Pibor Administrative Area have a long history of cyclical, retaliatory violence, often involving cattle raiding and child abductions between rival ethnic groups.
Call for Solution
In response, the Speaker of Parliament, Jemma Nunu Kumba, acknowledged the gravity of the situation and called for a comprehensive solution.
She urged all political leaders to play their part in talking to their communities “to stop attacking each other and killing unnecessarily.”
“We condemn as a parliament. We condemn such kind of behaviour… and such behaviour should actually stop,” Kumba said.
She also called on the parliament’s security committee to coordinate with relevant security units to address the violence.
The government has repeatedly pledged to disarm communities and end the inter-communal conflicts, but these initiatives have seen limited long-term success.