Authorities in Magwi County of South Sudan’s Torit State said they want cattle be evacuated from the area after a local chief was killed and three youth disappeared early this month.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday, the county commissioner, Ochola Bosco Oringa said the presence of cattle halts agricultural activities.

“We don’t want cattle in our land because we are people who earn a living through farming and this farming cannot cooperate with cattle. The cattle keepers who have come to Magwi should go to the place they came from or state they came from,” said Oringa.

He said all chiefs, women and youth have all supported calls for cattle to be evacuated from their area to allow farmers to cultivate.

 “Farmlands cannot be with animals. They will destroy the farms,” he said.

According to Oringa, communities in Magwi County currently live in fear due to insecurity and cannot work from bushes to earn a living.

“Our civilians cannot go to the bush for hunting, collecting honey or vegetables and fishing. Movement in the bush there for survival causes fear. If there is fear among the civil population, is the beginning of insecurity in the area”, he stressed.

Meanwhile, the press secretary in Torit State governor’s office, John Oringa Geoffrey said cattle keepers have started leaving the area.

The cattle keepers, he said, raised concerns over slow movement of their animals, but admitted it was an obligation for them to vacate.

Government is committed to peace in Magwi County, he stressed.