Lafon is a county in

Eastern Equatoria State Eastern Equatoria is a state in South Sudan. It has an area of 73,472 km². The capital is Torit. On October 1, 1972, the state was divided into Imatong and Namorunyang states and was re-established by a peace agreement signed on 22 Febru ...

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the C ...

. The largest town is Lafon.

Economy

As of 2007,most roads in the county were in poor conditions and movement was difficult in the rainy season. Water was shortage in the county due to lack of boreholes. Teachers and community health workers were not being paid. A household economy survey of three areas showed average daily cash income was at US$ 0.18 per person at Imehejek village, US$0.08 per person at Imotong village and US$0.16 per person at Hyala village. In November 2011 the Commissioner of Lafon County, Caesar Oromo Urbano, said most boreholes in the area had collapsed, and with no skilled technicians to repair them there was an immediate risk of an acute shortage of drinking water. Most of the communities in Lafon County are farmers, and have a single cropping season. As of November 2009 they were facing severe food insecurity due to drought. Cattle rustling had increased as the people sought alternative food. There were no NGOs or UN agencies operating in the county. However, the

Norwegian People's Aid Norwegian People's Aid ( no, Norsk Folkehjelp) was founded in 1939 to provide post-conflict reconstruction assistance and humanitarian relief during conflicts. NPA is now engaged in more than 33 countries in de-mining, humanitarian relief, promot ...

NGO has since been active in implementing Basic Package of Health services (MDTF-BPHS) in Lopa/Lafon county in a program funded by the World Bank and the Government of South Sudan. This included training and provision of communications and transport.

People

The largest community is the

Lopit people The Lopit people are an ethnic group found in Eastern Equatoria State, South Sudan. Traditionally, they refer to themselves as ''donge'' (plural) or ''dongioni'' (singular). The Lopit number 160,000 to 200,000 people living in the Lopit area, in ...

ethnic group. The second largest community is Pari people: Pari, followed by

Tennet TenneT is a transmission system operator in the Netherlands and in a large part of Germany. ''TenneT B.V.'' is the national electricity transmission system operator of the Netherlands, headquartered in Arnhem. Controlled and owned by the Dutch g ...

and Lotuko people respectively. As of May 2011 there was a dispute between the Lopit and Pari communities of Lafon County, with neither willing to accept a county commissioner from the other group. The Lopit preferred to have a commissioner and the Pari preferred two administrators. This forced Eastern Equatoria State Governor

Louis Lobong Lojore Louis Lobong Lojore is a South Sudanese Politician and a military governor in the rank of brigadier general in the South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF) and the current governor of Eastern Equatoria State in South Sudan. He was the governor o ...

to arbitrate the dispute by splitting the county into Imehejek and Lafon corridors in favor of peace. The governor said he was pushing to divide the counties in the state into smaller but more homogeneous counties.

Administration

In March 2009 the state Governor, Brigadier General

Aloisio Ojetuk Emor Aloisio Emor Ojetuk was governor of Eastern Equatoria State of South Sudan from 2005 to 2010. In September 2006, Ojetuk said that the remnants of the former Equatoria Defence Forces (EDF) were being supplied with ammunition by the Sudanese Armed ...

, announced that Lafon/Lopa County had been officially renamed Lafon County in accordance with the wishes of the late

SPLM The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM; ar, الحركة الشعبية لتحرير السودان, ''Al-Ḥarakat ash-Shaʿbiyyat liTaḥrīr as-Sūdān'') is a political party in South Sudan. It was initially founded as the political w ...

leader,

John Garang John Garang de Mabior (June 23, 1945 – July 30, 2005) was a Sudanese politician and revolutionary leader. From 1983 to 2005, he led the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) after the Second Sudanese Civil War, the comprehensive peace agreement ...

. He urged the communities to agree on their county headquarters. In April 2011 the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) – Sudan Operations Centre invited submission of sealed bids for construction of the Lafon County Headquarters. Lafon county included many supporters of the National Congress. Despite this, in the January 2011 referendum Lafon was the only county in Eastern Equatoria that voted unanimously for separation. Referendum results for Lafon had 71,708 for secession and none for unity. 8 ballots were invalid and 29 blank.

References

{{Eastern Equatoria Counties of Eastern Equatoria