Community leaders from four areas in Yei River County have called for urgent joint action to curb gang activities, theft and rising insecurity.
The call followed a one-day inter-boma dialogue held in Kondeko Sub-Boma with support from Search for Common Ground.
The meeting brought together local leaders, church representatives, peace committee members and other stakeholders from Kondeko, Rumojju, Sanjasiri and Hai Gabat to discuss security challenges and possible solutions.
Kondeko Sub-Boma Chief Michael Juma said the resolutions include ending discos in the areas, discouraging unnecessary release on bail of criminal suspects, and preventing gang members from obtaining firearms.
“When soldiers go to discos, they start misbehaving when drunk and sometimes give their guns to civilians to start intimidating people. I request that such people be stripped of their firearms,” he said. “Our children have turned into criminals who cut people with machetes as if they are cutting wood.”
“The government should look for ways of transferring these criminals to faraway places like Chukudum for detention so that when they complete their jail terms, they are changed people,” Juma added.
For his part, Joseph Batali, the officer in charge of the Kondeko Police Station, urged residents to work closely with the security to identify and report suspected criminals.
“Someone will just walk in the night with both a machete and a firearm, and these are all youth. Where do they get the firearms from? It is us, the soldiers, who give them firearms,” he said. “These youths rob people, and when they resist handing over their belongings, they kill them. You need to report cases to the police so that they are followed.”
He said the police do not just release suspects but forward their case to the state attorney to handle through the appropriate offices and courts.
“When you open a case, we give it to the attorney to take it to the rightful office for judgment. There are some minor cases which we give directly to the area chiefs to handle in the boma or sub-boma. If the person refuses to proceed with the case, we don’t just release a suspect,” Juma said. “It is very important to build trust and good relationships with the civilians. Some civilians refuse to report cases to the police. If your children are responsible for the crimes in the area, report them to us so that they are apprehended and appear before court.”
Moro Gabriel of Search for Common Ground said strained relations between communities and police were affecting the timely reporting of security concerns. He said the organization would distribute copies of the resolutions to the four bomas to support their implementation.
“There is a gap in the relationship between the community and the police and a lack of trust,” he said. “We will ask the chiefs if that relationship is built because we as an organization will give copies of the resolutions to all the bomas.”
Meanwhile, Peter Likama John of the County Peace Committee urged community leaders and residents to work together to promote peace and monitor progress on the agreed measures.
“To realize peace is a collective responsibility in our country, counties, payams, and bomas. We cannot just leave the responsibility to area chiefs, police, or peace partners; it is a role to be played by all of us,” he said. “There should be a follow-up on this dialogue to see if there are changes or not, because I have seen some NGOs doing some dialogues here which have not resulted in any changes.”
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