“They Are Now Community Police”: Negotiating the Boundaries and Nature of the Government in South Sudan through the Identity of Militarised Cattle-keepers

Abstract

Armed, cattle-herding men in Africa are often assumed to be at a relational and spatial distance from the ‘legitimate’ armed forces of the government. The vision constructed of the South Sudanese government in 2005 by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement removed legitimacy from non-government armed groups including localised, armed, defence forces that protected communities and cattle. Yet, militarised cattle-herding men of South Sudan have had various relationships with the governing Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement/Army over the last thirty years, blurring the government – non government boundary. With tens of thousands killed since December 2013 in South Sudan, questions are being asked about options for justice especially for governing elites. A contextual understanding of the armed forces and their relationship to government over time is needed to understand the genesis and apparent legitimacy of this violence.

The militarization of cattle raiding in South Sudan: how a traditional practice became a tool for political violence

“…This was the first time that Dinka raiders had ever fought alongside men they did not know on a personal basis, and it was at this time that the group first began wearing uniforms-or, in the absence of clothing, tying palm leaves around their wrists-to identify their own fighters. In addition to augmenting the military force of the SPLA, the cattle kept by the Dinka Titweng provided an important source of sustenance for SPLA fighters, and Titweng herds came to be colloquially known as "the bank of Garang" (Pendle 2015).…”

Policing for Conflict Zones: What Have Local Policing Groups Taught Us?

“…Informal militias have been found to be funded by individual politicians or parties to promote their personal interests and rivalries (e.g. South Sudan's cattle-keepersturned-militia: see Pendle 2015), or by governments wanting to carry out activities that their regular forces are not allowed to (e.g. Sudan's Janjaweed).…”

The Disintegration of the Military Integration Process in South Sudan (2006–2013)

“…52 This armed group fought against the SAF in the disputed border area of Heglig/ Panthou in 2012 (Pendle 2015).…”

“…From the Mathiang Anyoor, as well as from cattle protection titweng forces from President Kiir's home region of Greater Bahr al Ghazal, a predominately Dinka security force was established and referred to by a Dinka phrase 'Dut ku Beny', which reportedly translates to mean 'Protector of the Boss' (Pendle 2015;Radio Tamazuj 2015). The ethnic and regional composition of these forces may have indicated a lack in confidence on the part of the ruling elite towards what was suspected to be the Nuer-dominated composition of the SPLA and its ability to protect their interests (AU 2014; Panel of Experts on South Sudan 2015).…”