By Dak Buoth Riek Gaak
In the book of Exodus, verse twenty, read together with the book of Mark, verse twelve, it rightly states that ‘‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself. ’The greater Panyijiar County, the greater Yirol, have many things in common, including but not limited to the borders and bloodlines. Hence, these regions are the same. Luckily, this is still the case with Panyijiar and other sisterly counties of Lakes State and Unity State in the northern part.
The proximity of these territories and the similarity of the people of greater Panyijiar and greater Yirol give their respective residents the status as neighbors, who should love themselves, for the well-being and betterment of the present and future generations, to whom the future belongs.
The people in these two regions share, among other things alia nomadic norms and several traditional practices which are very contagious because they copy them from each other. These nomadic cousins share both the good and bad cultures, to say the least.
For example, the good culture they share is hospitality, humanity, generosity, and hard work. On the other hand, the bad culture that they share is cattle raiding, which they do through violent conflict, which continues up to this very moment.
Other than these bad cultural practices, there are other challenges affecting the people of Greater Panyijiar and Greater Lakes State, and Yirol in particular. These challenges can best be classified as artificial and natural.
The two artificial problems affecting the lives of the greater Panyijiar and greater lakes states are divisive and tribal politics championed by the ruling elites, devoid of substance. There are a few existing natural problems, namely floods and diseases, which have already claimed thousands of innocent lives.
Interestingly, these sisterly and brotherly People of Panyijiar, Lakes State, and Yirol in particular are related by blood because they have intermarried and mingled for a very long time.
Inherently, they are blessed with a large piece of arable and agricultural land and water bodies through which they conduct their fishing and grazing activities.
Unknown to many folks, it is on these sisterly regions of Panyijiar and Yirol that South Sudan wants to move and build its newly proposed city called Ramciel City. I believe the choice of Ramciel was necessitated by the strategic location of the new site, not forgetting the hospitality of the people there.
Since time immemorial, the people of greater Yirol and greater Panyijiar have lived together peacefully on both sides of the Panyijiar and the lakes states. Even as we converse or communicate here and now, many residents of Panyijiar County are still residing in Lakes State and Yirol East County in particular.
Governor General Rin Tueny Mabior
In 2020, when floods started invading Panyijiar, thus causing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, the residents in their numbers crossed over to Yirol East and other closed lakes state counties. These victims were welcomed and received by none other than the Lakes State governor, General Riny Tueny Mabior.
In his welcoming remarks, Governor Tueny made it crystal clear that the land is enough for everyone to live and cultivate on. This was a patriotic statement based on Pan African principle of unity and oneness, worth reciting and reiterating for us to remember.
Moreover, he avers that the people of Panyijiar who crossed over to Yirol must not live as internally displaced persons (IDP). Instead, Governor Riny stated that the visitors can choose where to live in greater Yirol by virtue that they are citizens of our country, South Sudan.
Following this historic reception, the victims of the flood were warmly welcomed with open arms. I am one hundred percent sure that the people of Panyijiar County can offer the same homage and hospitality to the residents of Yirol and Lakes State, if they find themselves in the same deplorable situation.
Col. James Tayin Keah Tut
There is available evidence to demonstrate that the people of Panyijiar county love the people of Yirol and Lakes State as their dependable neighbors in South Sudan.
On 18th November 2024, Deputy Panyijiar Operation Commander, Colonel James Tayin Keah Tut Ngoal, was killed in the line of his professional duty in defense of the properties and people of Lakes State.
A week before the killing of Tayin, the Panyijiar authority under the incumbent commissioner, Col. Gabriel Majok Bol Mani, relaunched an operation dubbed ‘return of stolen cattle.’
In the process, the Panyijiar county authority managed to identify some cattle and livestock that were irregularly bought in Panyijiar by cattle rustlers two years before.
Regrettably, when the county officers tried to confiscate and collect these illegally owned livestock to return them, the unlawful possessors reacted by putting a resistance. Thus, armed confrontation ensued, resulting in his shooting and eventual death.
This devoted and defendable officer perished in the fight against lawbreakers, some of whom are still roaming and causing havoc between Panyijiar and Lakes State borders.
In his honor, the authorities in the two counties of Panyijiar and Lakes State should write a joint recommendation for Colonel James Tayin to be promoted posthumously.
At the county level, a tarmac road connecting Yirol East and Panyijiar County should be constructed and named after this selfless serviceman. This proposed road can be commissioned in his remembrance to encourage patriotic officers on duty that their efforts shall not go in vain, should cattle raiders take their lives while on duty.
I must say that the killing of Colonel James Tayin can only be compared to the killing of Chief and elder Keah Tut Ngoal in terms of their status and positions in the County.
In 2014, the late Elder Keah Tut was murdered in cold blood at his home by untrained forces that continue to target children and women through air bombardment in the pretext of fighting cattle rustlers in Panyijiar County. The recent bombing of Pachienjok, Pariel and Polmok villages are cases in point.
The late Chief Keah Tut fathered Tayin Keah, and hence he is one of his elder sons. Unfortunately, I often hear some propagandists and protagonists arguing that the ongoing war was due to tribal animosity between the Dinka and the Nuer.
If indeed there is an existing enmity between these sisterly communities, then Colonel Tayin could not have sacrificed his precious life in defense of the properties belonging to Dinka brothers of Yirol East County. On that day, Tayin and his deceased comrades saw that the cattle belonged to their neighbors from Yirol East County, period.
You can imagine, if there was existing tribal enmity, maybe Tayin could have aided the concealment of those cattle because their original owners are Dinka. Colonel Tayin is the undisputed hero of both Panyijiar and Yirol counties.
Selflessly, he died while fighting on behalf of his people of Greater Lakes State and Greater Yirol in particular. Colonel Tayin was not fighting for the people of Yirol against the people of Panyijiar, but he was fighting for the peaceful coexistence between the people of these neighboring counties. Furthermore, Colonel Tayin will be remembered as the champion of peace and good neighborliness.
Cause of the current problem
As of now, there is a big problem that is killing our people in Panyijiar County and Lakes State. One way of solving a social problem and other human problems is to identify the root cause of the problem beforehand.
When the root cause of the problem is identified and explained, then the remedies can be prescribed and preached in order to resolve the issue through timely implementation. The problem that I am referring to emanated from the side of Panyijiar County. What is the problem?
On 18th June 2025, the rowdy youth went and conducted cattle rustling in Yirol East County. On this day of the incident, one of my informants from Yirol East County told me the cattle raiding was done at night while the rain was raining heavily.
Unfortunately, before the Panyijiar county authority initiates a plan to return these cattle, the inept and impatient SPLM government reacted by using unconventional means and ways of dealing with cattle rustling. Instead of liaising with Panyijiar county authority, which is traditionally opposed to cattle rustling, they began carrying out air bombardment on Panyijiar, residential areas far away from the forests and bushers where cattle raiders are hiding.
Of course, this indiscriminate air bombardment ended up causing serious provocation among the Panyijiar populace. As they say, two wrongs never make one right.’’ The violent act of raiding cattle by a few Panyijiar armed youth and the random bombing of the entire Panyijiar population by the government are unacceptable and unlawful.
Those cattle raiders and bombers are human butchers who should be dealt with in accordance with domestic and international law because their conduct amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
This provocative act of bombing civilians in Panyijiar county was not done to add pressure on cattle raiders to return the stolen cattle, but it was done as an act of revenge on Panyijiar and its entirety.
In other words, the indiscriminate bombing was deceptive in the sense that they did it to make the people of Lakes State and greater Yirol believe that the government was siding with them. It was done to gain political mileage. But the question is: how can the government be with the people of Yirol when it was doing a provocative act that only severely and sabotaged the conventional and collective effort to return the cattle by the host community in Panyijiar county.
Furthermore, the unlawful act of bombing on the part of the government was not only sabotaging and severing the cattle returning process, but it was also promoting the revenge among the neighboring community, as was seen in Shambek, where fishers and traders were killed two days after the bombing.
On 1st July 2025, the nation woke up to the heartbreaking news published by radio Tamazuj that forty-two traders from Panyijiar were killed in Shambek. Maybe, the killers of traders were moved and motivated by what they saw the government was doing in broad daylight. They felt that if the government was conducting indiscriminate bombing to kill everyone in Panyijiar, they could follow suit and kill young and innocent businessmen who they believed were coming from Panyijiar’s direction. Indeed, it is a regrettable act that challenges all of us to question why we have thrown our country to the dogs?
As the country marks its 14th independence anniversary, President Salva Kiir and the rest of us should look back and see the irreparable damage caused by these ‘‘divide and rule’’ tactics rooted in colonialism.
As a people of one indivisible nation, we should work toward uniting our people to achieve the historical objectives of self-determination achieved on 9th July 2011.
It is wrong and unforgivable to divide and declare some regions as both ‘friendly and hostile counties based on their political views that are guaranteed and protected by the constitution and the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCISS).
On 16th May 2024, the negotiating parties, including the fractious SPLM Party, signed a declaration of commitment to the Tumaini peace Initiative. Convincingly, points one and two of this declaration of principles state: ‘‘To firmly renounce violence as a means of resolving differences and call upon all South Sudanese citizens to engage in constructive dialogue, fostering an environment where grievances can be addressed peacefully. To agree to open civic spaces and to allow citizens to participate in peaceful political processes and to respect, protect and guarantee the freedom of expression, assembly and association.’’
Finally, the people and especially the youth of Greater Panyijiar and Lakes State should remain as good neighbors who love each other in good and bad times. They must remain united in their quest to defeat these antagonizing cattle rustlers.
Equally, they must refrain from all acts of revenge as envisioned by a few gluttonous politicians who benefit from the spoils and proceeds of war.
In conclusion, the senior youth from these sisterly counties are hereby called and encouraged to shun all kinds of social media propaganda that are aimed at spreading hostility and hatred.
Last but not least, youth should defend themselves against all forms of human rights violations by expressing their dislike against the ruling elites who continue to squander their opportunities by prolonging their stay in office against the law.
Note: The views expressed in this ‘opinion’ piece published by King Media are exclusively those of the writer. The author is solely accountable for the veracity of any claims indicated, not King Media.