AFRICA/SOUTH SUDAN - Religious leaders committed to calm tensions on the border with Uganda

Juba (Agenzia Fides) - The local religious leaders are at the forefront to calm tensions in the border area between South Sudan and Uganda, among residents of Kajo-Keji (South Sudan) and those of Moyo (in Uganda). The two communities have become the protagonists of a series of attacks and reprisals along the border between the two States. The South Sudanese accuse the residents of Moyo of having destroyed 90 homes and stealing 37 head of cattle during a raid in the southern Sudanese territory. In retaliation, 12 Ugandan women have been kidnapped in Moyo and brought to Kajo-Keji. In recent clashes at least 7 people were killed.
A gesture of reconciliation between the two communities was addressed by His Exc. Mgr. Erkolano Lodu Tombe, Bishop of Yei. Mgr. Lodu Tombe has urged residents not to repay evil with evil, and to have confidence in the governments of the two Countries to resolve the border dispute. The Bishop then asked the two governments to speed up procedures to demarcate the border in order to avoid new tensions.
The Anglican Bishop of Kajo-Keji, Rev. Anthony Poggo, has appealed to the two communities to immediately cease the violence. Two delegations, each composed of about twenty people in their communities, have asked the governments of Uganda and South Sudan to monitor and demarcate the border as soon as possible. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 23/09/2014)