President Yoweri Museveni - (Photo: Reuters).

Uganda’s Minister of State for Defense says they have been sent by President Yoweri Museveni with a specific message on the border dispute between the two countries and that is a message of peace.

Minister Hajjat Huda Oleru made a statement after meeting President Salva Kiir on Wednesday, October 25, in Juba.

In the meeting, President Kiir received a message from his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on the urgent need for the two countries to address the border disputes.

In a statement to the State-owned TV, Hajjat said the resolution of the border issues would help restore peaceful co-existence among the communities living along the common border.

According to the Ugandan Minister of State for Defense, this will spur economic transformation and socio-economic development in the region.

“We have been sent today to meet the president of the Republic of South Sudan with a specific message and this is a message about our borders, the international borders that were created by our colonial masters and how we should not misuse these borders to stop our positive living, our harmonious living and our living together as two member States countries of East Africa,” Hajjat said.

“These borders are very artificial but sometimes, some few elements would want to misuse them for their selfish interests, but our two heads of State have given us a very clear message,” she said.

On his part, South Sudan’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ramadan Goc says both Kiir and Museveni directed the joint technical teams to speed up the processes to resolve the border issues.

“The topic that was raised by our brothers from Uganda is the issue of the border and from our side as South Sudan, we do believe that the issue of the border used to come from time to time, and this is a concern from our side as South Sudan,” said Goc.

“The only solution to resolve the border issue is the reactivation of the mechanisms that were put in place before, it was a joint commission of the border and there are other technical committees that were there before,” he said.

Early this month, President Salva Kiir pledged to resolve the border disputes between South Sudan and Uganda after receiving reports on the issue.

This followed a fresh tension that engulfed Central Equatoria’s Kajo-keji County at the frontier with Uganda, an incident a local official said, UPDF troops have moved deep into South Sudan and were seen setting up new bases.

Local authorities also disclosed that the foreign troops appeared to have permanently settled in three locations and may not be leaving any sooner.