Mayom County
| Mayom County | |
|---|---|
 Mayom County
|
|
| Coordinates: 9°13′27″N 29°10′00″E / 9.224042°N 29.166706°ECoordinates: 9°13′27″N 29°10′00″E / 9.224042°N 29.166706°E | |
| Country |
 South Sudan
|
| State | Unity |
| Government | |
| • County Commissioner | Col.John Madeng Gatduel Nhial |
| Population (2008) | |
| • Total | 120,715 |
Mayom County is an administrative region in Northern Liech of South Sudan to the west of Bentiu. The county headquarters is Mayom town.
Mayom County is in the northwest of Unity State. The largest town is Mayom. Other towns are Tam, Mankien 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.
Around 1982, encouraged by the Sudan government, Baggara 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 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.
During the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005) many residents of Mayom County had obtained AK-47 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 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.
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