President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda expects a report from the delegation led by the two Ministers he sent to Yumbe and Moyo districts to settle Uganda-South Sudan borderline wrangles, Ugandan official said.

This follows reports of tension among Ugandans residing along the Uganda-South Sudan border after South Sudanese authorities claimed ownership of more than 20 villages in the Kerwa and Kochi sub-counties in the Yumbe district.

Earlier last month, the ad-hoc committee formed by Central Equatoria State Governor Emmanuel Adil to address the border dispute between South Sudan and Uganda said they met with Ugandan authorities and handed over 13 Ugandans and Uganda also handed over the chief of Bori Boma of Kajo-Keji County who had been arrested.

52-year-old, Ernesto Tumia, the chief of Bori Boma in Kajo-Keji County, was arrested on 8 September by Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) following a dispute over land along the border.

13 Ugandans were subsequently arrested by South Sudanese authorities in retaliation for the arrest of Chief Tumia. They were accused of carrying out illegal charcoal burning and farming activities in Bori Boma, Kajokeji County in South Sudan.

A lawmaker at the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) last week accused elements of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) of allegedly abducting three South Sudanese nationals in Kajo-Keji County. James Janka Duku, an SPLM legislator representing Kajo-Keji County in the TNLA, said the Ugandan army forcefully encroached into South Sudanese territory in Nyaingamuda, Bori Boma in Kajo-Keji County, chasing away citizens.

“As of 24 September, they (UPDF) arrested three people, and up to now their whereabouts are not known. The UPDF has deployed very heavily along the border in those areas where the SPLA trained its forces during the liberation struggle,” he said. “They (UPDF) have evicted South Sudanese and blocked the roads. As I speak, they have deployed heavily and nobody is allowed to come from the refugee camps in Uganda to Kajo-Keji or to go from Kajo-Keji to a refugee camps.”

Janka believes the deployment of Ugandan soldiers follows a story published by a Ugandan newspaper, The Observer on 4 September 2023, which accused South Sudan of claiming ownership of 20 villages in Uganda.

On Monday Uganda Police Spokesperson Fred Enanga confirmed that two Ugandan ministers, Huda Abason Oleru, the State Minister for Veteran Affairs, and Dr. Joyce Moriku Kaducu, the State Minister for Primary Education are currently camping at Yumbedistrict along the South Sudan-Uganda border to ensure that disagreements are settled.

Enanga said that the two ministers are with the Police Commanders, Resident District Commissioners (RDCs), LC Chairperson from both districts, Army officers, and other security agencies, discussing the way forward of ensuring people in those areas.

He says that they expect a report from this delegation which will be handed over to President Museveni for a final discussion.

In 2009, President Museveni and his Southern Sudanese counterpart Salva Kiir Mayardir met in Moyo district and agreed that farmers from both countries could utilize the vast virgin farmland along the border without any party claiming ownership of the land until the boundary between the two countries is redefined, which hasn’t been done.

Last week, Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang, the SSPDF Spokesperson, confirmed that the leadership of the army had received a report from Kajo-Keji concerning encroachment by Ugandan troops and said the issue would be handled by a joint border committee.

“I got the report from the commissioner of Kajo-Keji County and also read it in the newspapers,” he said. “If you can recall, there was a joint committee that was formed to handle border issues, so it is the same body that will handle it.”

In May 2023, South Sudan and Uganda formed a 14-member joint committee to resolve the border dispute between the two countries.

The committee was formed after locals in Kajo-Keji County protested the alleged occupation of some parts of the area by residents of the Moyo District of Uganda.

During the protest, the Ugandan army reportedly crossed to Kajo-Keji County and opened gunfire on demonstrators killing a woman.

The committee was supposed to consult the communities along the common border followed by a process of border demarcation by a team of surveyors in the presence of the 18-member committee.

It is unclear if the Government of Uganda officials will meet their Government of the Republic of South Sudan counterparts as efforts to contact the latter were futile.   

On Monday evening, President Salva Kiir’s office put out a very brief statement saying that he pledged to resolve the border dispute with Uganda.

“President Kiir on Monday pledged to resolve the border disputes between South Sudan and Uganda,” the statement said. “President Kiir spoke after receiving reports from the Governor of Central Equatoria, Emmanuel Adil Anthony on the latest development along the areas of Kajokeji County with Uganda.”

“The President assured the Governor and people of Central Equatoria of his administration's commitment to peace, tranquility, and development stability in the state,” it added.