A cross-border peace conference scheduled for Tuesday in Abiemnhom in the Ruweng Administrative Area, South Sudan, has been postponed after the Misseriya and Mayom communities disagreed over cattle migration corridors.
The grassroots peace initiative was to include the Ngok Dinka from the Abyei Administrative Area, the Arab Misseriya from Sudan’s West Kordofan State, and communities from Ruweng and Mayom County in Unity State.
Kat Ngor, Deputy Chairperson for South Sudan’s Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC), told Radio Tamazuj on Wednesday that the Mayom community declined to participate at the last minute due to the dispute with the Misseriya over cattle migration entry points.
“The peace conference was postponed because Mayom community in Unity State have not agreed with the Misseriya from Sudan’s West Kordofan State. In view of that development, a Misseriya delegation has traveled to meet them and to discuss whether the Mayom community will decide to take part in the conference or not,” Ngor said.
A local resident in Unity State who was aware of the Misseriya delegation’s arrival for talks said, “I received information yesterday (Tuesday) that these people have arrived in Unity State and maybe they have already started the discussions.”
Mayom County Commissioner Jackson Mut Yien told Radio Tamazuj on Wednesday that the communities share borders and have an equal stake in protecting peace.
“We are sharing common borders with Misseriya, Abiemnhom and Mayom and all of us own cattle. If peace has to prevail in the region, we don’t want to realize the peace in Abiemnhom, Mayom or in Rubkona alone, but across the region,” Mut said.
“I want them (Misseriya pastoralists) to brief me about their peace mission as they did to the Abiemnhom County Commissioner and they will get my consent for my community to partake in the peace conference,” he added.
Misseriya leaders could not immediately be reached for comment.
The conference is funded by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in collaboration with the government of South Sudan.
Each year, typically during the dry season, herders like the Misseriya move their livestock south from Sudan into grazing lands in South Sudan, following traditional corridors.