Map of Eastern Equatoria State. | Courtesy

A national lawmaker raised a concern on Monday regarding Uganda’s alleged border encroachments into South Sudan and the recent raiding of cattle by elements of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) in Ikwoto County.

Hon. Tobiolo Alberio said the cattle were stolen from a lone herder during an attack in Mosimo Village in Eastern Equatoria on November 17.

Mr. Alberio said after a series of failed negotiations with Ugandan authorities, the local youth group Monyi-miji confronted the UPDF and recovered most of the cattle.

He added that when the area commissioner went to recover the remaining cattle, the UPDF soldiers told him that the cattle will be sold and the money used to treat the soldiers wounded in the fight with the monyimiji.

“The Monyimiji battled them and they were able to recover majority of the cattle and the UPDF went with 14 heads of cattle and they are still holding the herds up to today,” he said during an ordinary sitting.

“When our commissioner went to ask them to return the cattle, they said these cattle are going to sold out and used for the treatment of their soldiers who were wounded in the confrontation with Monyimiji.”

Alberio called on the parliament to summon the Minister of Foreign Affairs to plan a response to the external aggression, otherwise, in his words, the local community will take it upon themselves to protect their land.

“I want to bring to the attention of the August House that if the government of South Sudan do not want to address the boarder issue, we together with the communities shall continue to protect our territories,” he said.

“I want to bring this to the attention of the committees concerned to immediately summon the Minister of Foreign Affairs to inform the Ambassador to Uganda. Stop UDPF not to patrol that area anymore, otherwise we will have our Christmas there.”

For his part, First Deputy Speaker Oyet Nathaniel said the issue of boarder encroachment has become persistent and requires a substantive motion for the parliament to deliberate and take actions.

“I can recall that we summoned the Minister of Foreign Affairs several times over this matter and we are not getting to the depth. I feel that this issue deserves a substantive motion which most engage the house with the relevant institutions in the executive.”

“The mover Hon. Alberto you sit down to develop a substantive motion over this matter so that the parliament deliberate and decide the way forward.”

Border disputes between South Sudan and Uganda primarily in the areas of Lamwo, Nimule, Kajo-Keji, Ikwoto and Moyo and have been a longstanding issue that sometimes escalate to deadly skirmishes, since 2014.

The conflict is deeply rooted in historical arrangements made during colonial times when borders were drawn without consultation with local populations. This has led to tensions among various ethnic groups who inhabit these regions.

In 2017, Uganda and South Sudan agreed on a blueprint for redrawing their common border in a deal expected to end the long-simmering border conflicts.

A joint technical committee from the two countries concluded a three-day meeting for the “delimitation and demarcation” of the border in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, a process facilitated and to be overseen by the African Union.

The blueprint includes expediting the acquisition of documents like certified colonial maps from the UK, carrying out continuous sensitization of border communities, commencing demarcation of the hot spots once funds are available, and urging respective governments to expeditiously open border access roads to facilitate demarcation.

In September 2024, South Sudan’s Chief of Defence Force Gen. Santino Deng Wol, held a security meeting with his Ugandan counterpart, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, amid the simmering border disputes between the two countries.