South Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria State and the neighboring Uganda’s Lamwo District on Wednesday resolved to coexist peacefully and stop cattle raiding along the common border, among other issues hindering mutual development.
The resolutions were made during a meeting between the officials from the two jurisdictions at the Eastern Equatoria State Secretariat in Torit.
The officials from Lamwo District led by the District Resident Commissioner paid a courtesy visit to Torit to enhance bilateral ties following several issues along the border including territorial disputes, cattle theft, and lately, poor relations, among others.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Eastern Equatoria State Information Minister Elia John Ahaji said the meeting addressed criminality and the displacement of communities along the border.
“During the meeting, a lot of issues were raised, particularly insecurity along the border triggered by cattle raiding, displacement of people from agricultural land, taking of some areas along the borders by some criminal individuals from the Ugandan side, and also poor coordination between officials from the Ikotos County and Lamwo District,” he explained. “It was resolved that we leave the issue of the borders to Kampala and Juba. We said that borders are not walls to separate us but bridges to connect us to interact so that South Sudanese can go to that side of Uganda and farm and vice versa.”
“Nobody should claim that this land belongs to Uganda or South Sudan since we have tribes in both countries who share ancestral land,” Minister Ahaji added.
Regarding cattle rustling, he said it was resolved that officials from Ikotos County and Lamwo District check the vice by apprehending perpetrators and not only focus on returning stolen cattle. He also said that the meeting agreed to collaborative efforts to end illegal logging to save the forests along the common border.
For his part, Komakech Walter, the Lamwo Resident District Commissioner, said the visit also aimed to boost infrastructure development between the two countries and resolve security issues.
“Eastern Equatoria is our neighbor and we relate a lot for our cooperation and collaboration for the peaceful coexistence of our people and on security issues. We also look as far as infrastructural development to foster trade,” he stated. “It has been a cordial visit, we were received well and we agreed on several things which we need to combat relating to security, infrastructure, and others, which has been good.”
Meanwhile, Eastern Equatoria State Governor Louis Lobong reiterated the need for both local governments to collaborate and solve minor issues at their levels of administration.
“We said let the communities have dialogue and cultivate jointly, no one should say that this land is mine. One day we need to bring the security forces from the two countries together for a conference so that all of us understand and know what to do,” he said. “I call upon the commissioner of Ikotos County to communicate with your counterpart in Lamwo District from now on, because these are your neighbors and you need to create a good relationship with them. Even if you report to us or Juba, we are very far and have our problems. Even Kampala has its issues to address, and they ignore these minor issues.”
Governor Lobong said there is a harmful alcoholic spirit imported from Uganda and that they deployed security forces to control its smuggling.
“The problem is that our people who smuggle the drink sometimes come back in their hundreds, and when they are well armed. Some even carry the alcohol using donkeys,” he said. “We do not even know how the arms enter. These groups are well armed, and they enter Uganda with arms and they return with this Guu (alcohol) to South Sudan. Where do they leave these guns when entering Uganda?”