Mayom County
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Mayom County is an administrative division of
Unity State Unity State, also known as Western Upper Nile, is a state in South Sudan. Unity State is in the Greater Upper Nile region. Unity is inhabited predominantly by two ethnic groups: the Nuer majority, and the Dinka minority. In 2015, a preside ...
in the
Greater Upper Nile The Greater Upper Nile () is a region of northeastern South Sudan. It is named for the White Nile (it is its lowest portion in South Sudan), a tributary of the Nile River in North Africa, North and East Africa, East Africa. History The Greater ...
region of
South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...
. It is located to the west of
Bentiu Bentiu, also spelled Bantiu, is a city in South Sudan. It is the capital of Unity State. Location Bentiu is located in Rubkona County, Unity State, in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan, near the international border with the Republic ...
. The county headquarters is Mayom town.


Location

Mayom County is in the northwest of
Unity State Unity State, also known as Western Upper Nile, is a state in South Sudan. Unity State is in the Greater Upper Nile region. Unity is inhabited predominantly by two ethnic groups: the Nuer majority, and the Dinka minority. In 2015, a preside ...
. The largest town is Mayom. Other towns are Tam,
Mankien Mankien (or Mankin) is a community in Unity (state), Unity State in South Sudan. With a key location near the oil fields, the town changed hands more than once during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005). In April 2011 the town was once again ...
and Wang-kay. Large villages include Rier, Thargana, Buoth, Wicok and Toic. Mayom lies in the Block 4 oil concession to the south of the Kaikang oilfield.


Civil War

Around 1982, encouraged by the Sudan government,
Baggara The Baggāra ( "heifer herder"), also known as Chadian Arabs, are a nomadic confederation of people of mixed Arab and Arabized indigenous African ancestry, inhabiting a portion of the Sahel mainly between Lake Chad and the Nile river near sou ...
people started to arrive in the Mayom region from the north, armed with automatic rifles. That year the Baggara stole about 500 cattle from the Nuer and Dinka people. The
Second Sudanese Civil War The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement, Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil Wa ...
began in 1983. In March 1985 there was a fight between Baggara raiders and combined SPLA and Anyanya II forces led by Major Bul Nyawan in which the Baggara were defeated, leading to relative peace between the Baggara and Nuer. In 1987 and 1988 the region was hit by famine due to the conflict between the army, Anyanya 2 and SPLA which had led to villages being burned, mass killings and widespread displacement of people. Mayom was presumably badly hit, but there were no relief agencies to record the progress of the famine.


Referendum

During the
Second Sudanese Civil War The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement, Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil Wa ...
(1983–2005) many residents of Mayom County had obtained
AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...
automatic rifles, hand grenades and other type of small-arms. In preparation for the January 2011 referendum there was a drive for disarmament. 1,700 guns were handed in to the authorities. County Commissioner Colonel John Madeng Gatduel said this cleared the way for peaceful negotiations between ''payams'' (administrative units) that had been engaged in conflict in the past. He noted however that there was a risk of violence spilling over from
Warrap State Warrap is one of the ten states in South Sudan with its Headquarters at Kuajok. Warrap state is located in the Bahr el Ghazal region. The state was separately established in 2005 following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between ...
to the east, which had not yet disarmed. In the January 2011 referendum 98 people voted for unity with Sudan while 80,364 voted for secession.


Gadet rebellion

On 11 April 2011 Major General Peter Gadet Yak, formerly of the SPLA and now of the South Sudan Liberation Army, published the Mayom Declaration. He denounced government by the "current corrupt gangs in Juba" and called for the government of Southern Sudan to be replaced by a national broad-base transitional government. Officials accused the Khartoum government of supporting Gadet's militia and others in an effort to destabilize the country prior to independence. An SPLA spokesperson said the declaration was not written in Mayom but in
Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...
by Sudan Armed Forces intelligence working with the rebels. In April 2011 there was a clash in Mayom County between
Misseriya The Messiria (), also known as Misseriya Arabs, are a branch of the Baggara ethnic grouping of Arab tribes.Adam, Biraima M. (2012)''Baggara of Sudan: Culture and Environment'' Amazon online Books. Their language is primarily Sudanese Arabic, wh ...
tribesmen from the north and
Sudan People's Liberation Army The South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF), formerly the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), is the military force of South Sudan. The SPLA was founded as a guerrilla movement against the government of Sudan in 1983 and was a key parti ...
(SPLA) troops. A Misseriya spokesman denied links to rebel militias in the region, saying "We attacked an SPLA base to return 1,700 cows that the SPLA had stolen from us". According to the spokesman 11 of his tribe died and 22 were injured during the attack. Earlier that month, SPLA troops had fought with Gadet's rebels in a Mayom County village the militia had taken over and then burned, with twenty army troops losing their lives. Following that clash, the Unity state government ordered all north Sudanese workers in the oilfields to leave the state at once. Later in May 2011 there was fighting between the SPLA and Gadet's rebel militia. The Mayom Commissioner Charles Machieng Kuol reported that 7,800 homes had been burnt down in the Loath, Wanam and Bora ''bomas'', subdivisions of the county, accusing the SPLA of causing the damage. SPLA Major-General Koang Chuol said the damage was caused by cross-fire in the fighting. Charles Machieng was told to apologize for his comments. When he refused, on 30 June 2011 the state governor
Taban Deng Gai Taban Deng Gai is a South Sudanese politician who has been one of the Vice Presidents of South Sudan in the unity government since February 2020. He served as the First Vice President of South Sudan from 23 July 2016 to February 2020. He was min ...
gave him the sack. Machieng, a son-in-law of the governor, had been appointed in place of John Madeng Gatduel on 7 March 2011. The appointment had been criticized by the Bull Nuer community of Mayom county since they had not been consulted.


References

{{reflist , refs= {{cite web , url=http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?iframe&page=imprimable&id_article=39045 , title=Unity State authorities deny that SPLA burnt 7,800 homes in Mayom , author=Bonifacio Taban Kuich , date=May 28, 2011 , access-date=2011-08-11 Counties of Unity State