Residents of Lainya County in South Sudan's Yei River State say the lack of telecommunication network has negatively affected their businesses, social interaction and family connections in the area.
Since the conflict erupted in the area in 2016, MTN, ZAIN, and Vivacell switched off their networks over insecurity. But the returnees, who had fled the violence say without mobile network, life has become difficult.
Isaac Taban a local resident in the area said they have had to go back to writing letters.
“We have resorted to letter writing, we also look for the person to communicate manually and it is time-consuming. The returnees with Ugandan mobile lines climb on the top of the mountain to communicate to their families in Uganda,” he said.
Another resident, Rose Senya said many women in the villages cannot access health care due to lack of a mobile network.
"The issue of the mobile network is very challenging. Many women are dying in the villages due to lack of communication with health officials to rescue us with an ambulance. We also don’t communicate to our relatives in Uganda and we are suffering,” she added.
For his part, Lainya County commissioner Stephen Steward said the security situation in the area has improved and appealed to the telecommunication companies to restore networks in the county.
“The people of Lainya are in dire need of communication and I call on MTN and ZAIN mobile operators to ensure that the networks are functioning in the area. The people in the villages also need to be talked to about the revitalized peace agreement through telephones,” he noted.
Lainya County is located about 35 miles along the Yei-Juba road.