Youth Resolve Inter-Clan Conflicts in Nyirol County
The Cie-nyakuong and the Cie-leak
For more than two decades, cycles of inter-clan violence in Nyriol County, Jonglei State have continued despite several initiatives by both local and humanitarian actors to intervene and de-escalate conflict. One of the most persistent inter-clan conflicts is between the Cie-nyakuong clan from Rim Boma and the Cie-leak clan from Wechdeng Boma of Waat Payam. The conflict erupted in 2017 after a man from the Cie-leak clan visited his maternal relatives in Rim Boma who were affiliated with the Cie-nyakuong. During the visit, the Cie-leak man and his maternal uncle began arguing after consuming local brew. After the intervention of other relatives, the Cie-leak man left the area and returned with a weapon. The man killed his uncle and then fled to his paternal home in Wechdeng Boma.
In response, the Cie-nyakoang clan members from Rim Boma mobilized for revenge against the Cie-leak, resulting in three people dead and one person critically injured on the Cie-leak side. Since then, the cycle of revenge attacks has continued, killing several people including the sub-chief and a youth leader.
Furthermore, several others have been injured or displaced and there have been restrictions on free movement. The Cie-leak are no longer able to travel to Waat town or Lankien town due to fear of attack, thereby limiting the clan’s access to the basic services found in the main towns.
Following reports of mobilization by the two clans for further violence in October 2021, Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) organized separate Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP) trainings for the youth of each clan in November 2021. During the training, the youth shared their insights on how the conflict was detrimentally impacting their communities and requested NP’s intervention to bring the two clans together. A youth from the Cie-nyakoang clan expressed his appreciation for NP’s training and said,
“We cannot look at each other’s eyes anymore, I don’t know how long this will go on but thank you for the training today. I request you to find a way for us the clans to come together and talk to each other so that we can stay in peace once again.”
A youth from the Cieleak clan also noted,
“As a youth, life is difficult here because we are seen as the problem. Thank you, NP, for giving us this training. I have known today that some of my actions could be the reason the conflict is still going but I ask you to have a bigger training for us all as the two clans so that we can all know what we did wrong and what we should do to stay together again.”
After the training, NP held two separate consultative meetings with each clan to gauge their willingness to engage in dialogue as well as to assess the possible threats, concerns, and fears that could hinder the success of the dialogue. During the consultative meeting with Cie-leak clan members, NP observed a willingness to support peace with the Cie-nyakoang. One of the Cie-leak clan elders shared,
“We about talk peace, peace, peace, who doesn’t want peace? All of us we need peace. That is why IO and IG accept peace talk. The same to us, [the] Cie-leak and Cie-nyakoang need to have peace because we have a blood relationship.”