Dear brothers and sisters
I know that we are from different
communities. So, let's try to do
something to our community members
to avoid blood shading. Since yesterday
morning, there is a serious fighting
between people from South Sudanese,
Nuer community, and all the great
lakes people living in Kakuma Refugee
camp, especially my community,
Burundians. It started with a
motorcycle accident. A Burundian
motorcyclist hit a small Nuer child in
Kakuma 4, block five. At that moment,
South Sudanese beat the rider
seriously. he was about to die when
other motorcyclists came to help him
get away. Thus, Nuers engaged in
fighting against Burundians. But for
Burundians are brown like all the great
lakes people, there was a problem to
the Nuers to differentiate Burundians
from Congolese, Rwandans, Ugandans,
and Somali Bantu. So, they were
against anyone who is brown involving
people from all the above mentioned
community.
Nuers managed to capture some
motorcyclists and their motorcycles.
After they beat the motorcyclists, they
burned three of the motorcycles. In the
motorcycles burned, as I myself
witnessed it, was involved the one for
one of my best, Ntihinduka
Josua.
and I did not cease to make our people
overlook what had happened. We told
them not to plan revenge.
It happened a time when we saw a
South Sudanese fence burning. We
mobilized people to go and quench the
fire. We managed it. We went and we
put the fire off. People of that compound
were going to run but we calmed them
telling them that we do not like fighting.
Despite all our effort, the tension was
high because there was no similar
peace promotion from the side of Nuer
People. So, as we were advised by
some authorities, we took some of our
belonging to the police station.
However, many men, excluded I,
wanted to safeguard
their houses while their families were at
the station. So they remained in the
community. These men who remained
in the community were attacked around
three pm, and two of them got
seriously injured. The police intervened,
and all men were ordered to go to the
police station.
The remaining of the night was calm at
the police station where we were. Yet,
great lakes refugees were attacked by
Nuers in other parts of the camp such
as Kakuma three and Hong Kong. In
Hong Kong, South Sudanes refugees
from the Dinka community were also
attacked by Nuers.
In the morning Eric and Jean-Marie,
two Burunians were reported dead, the
report that was confirmed by the
information from the hospital. Their
corpses were found in the mortuary of
the main hospital. More than these
dead people, many people got injured.
The information I collected from one of
the nurses working at clinic 6, more
than thirty injured great lakes peple
were received.
I was not able to get the information of
what happened to the attackers during
the reported auto-defense that
occurred. Yet, two corpses were found
by Don Bosco VCT. People were not
able to identify their tribes, but the
allegations are that they might be Nuers
who got shot by anonymous individuals.
Back, to the police point where we
spent the night, the tension was too
much this morning. Everybody was
expecting to get attacked. I also
suspected the same. So, I made up my
mind to leave the station. I was
informed
that the Nuers finally tended to attack
the people who are at the the police
station I left. The police failed to control
this attack and ran away. In this attack
two Nuer are reported dead. Up to this
very moment I am jotting this
information down, the tension is still
high. For people, especially from the
great lakes, no longer have trust in the
police assistance, things can even
grow worse.
So, what can be done to stop all this?
The police would use all their
techniques to stop the group of nuer,
the group that calls itself “the Negro"
from disturbing the camp by attacking
the different tribes. This group would
have to learn how to live with other
people in peace. They would have also
to learn how to deal with cases. They
should not always generalize an
individual case. For the other tribes, we
would learn to understand them. They
might be doing this because of their
cultural background, and we have to
recognize that changing culture takes
time. This may help us bear with all
what they do without planning to apply
the rule of tooth by tooth, and eye by
eye.
We would, without failing, apply the
commonly called golden rule by asking
our selves the following question: “If I
was that Nuer, what would other
people do to help me change?" Let’s
always avoid generalizing individual
case. If there is a bad Nuer called X
who burned Josua’s motorcycle, there
is a good and kind Nuer in our team,
James, who does not support what his
brothers are doing. Who never fails to
greet me and give me a soda. There is
no reason of considering all people from
Nuer tribe as X. There are many
Jameses in Nuer people. Remember
that there is no rose without a thorn
and no garden without its weed.
Live and help others to live!
Ubuntu.
CALVIN ALIMASI.
