The Nuer had no role in the Gambella violence and bear no responsibility for it. What we are witnessing

Pal Tut Gach. former Minister for Agriculture

now is the incarceration of innocent people on charges related to violence that was initiated by the Anyuak themselves.

Although some Anyuak may have died during the violence, this situation was forced upon the Nuer by the GPLM and Lwa Chiri, also known as the New Anyuak Movement, whose stated goal is to drive the Nuer out into the wilderness.

The Nuer have never had an agenda of violence or barbarism in Gambella. They have never had an ideology or a plan to dislodge the Anyuak from their ancestral lands. In contrast, the current violence stems from organized actions planned and funded by Anyuak insurgent elements.

The arrest of Pal Tut and Thuok Muang makes no sense, particularly if the federal government is acting on pressure to ensure “equal representation” in the number of arrests. Justice should be based on individual responsibility, not ethnic balance.

The Nuer do not have an armed force or rebel movement aimed at fighting either the Anyuak or the Ethiopian government. They have also never been involved in attacks such as killing ambulances or patients traveling to and from the Anyuak Zone.

Every major crisis in Gambella has originated from Anyuak actions. It is unreasonable for the Nuer to pay the price for an insurgency that they neither planned nor funded. The Ethiopian government must look carefully at the root causes of the conflict instead of punishing those who are not responsible.

Any actions taken by the Nuer during this violence were acts of self-defense. This right is clearly supported by the Ethiopian Constitution. No one has the right to take another person’s life, and when faced with such a threat, individuals have the right to defend themselves. That is what the Nuer have been doing in Gambella.

The perpetrators of this violence are solely the Anyuak insurgents. Treating violence as a shared responsibility when one group had no role in initiating it is unjust. Jailing victims alongside perpetrators serves neither justice nor peace.

Therefore, all Nuer politicians who have been incarcerated should be released immediately. The Nuer have no agenda in Gambella other than peaceful coexistence with the Anyuak.

Meanwhile, Anyuak militant groups are engaged in a campaign of terror, killing Nuer in public transportation, rivers, forests, and workplaces. It is unfair and unjust for the federal government to associate the Nuer with these actions. Responsibility must rest with those who created this crisis, and they must be held accountable for the situation they brought upon Gambella.