Ikotos town, Eastern Equatoria State - Courtesy.

The Commissioner of Ikotos County in Eastern Equatoria said he is worried about the lack of intervention and communication from the state government regarding the return of cattle raided last month by the Ugandan army.

In November 17, elements of the Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF) allegedly attacked a herder in Mosimo village in Ikotos – stealing his cattle and robbing him of his gun.

According to the commissioner, after negotiations with Ugandan authorities failed, the local youth group Monyi-miji confronted the UPDF and recovered most of the cattle.

He however said when the area commissioner went to recover the remaining cattle, the UPDF soldiers told him that the livestock will be sold to treat soldiers who fought the Monyimiji youth.

Meanwhile, Timon Loboi said despite having submitted reports to the state authorities on the stolen cattle, no updates have been provided regarding the situation.

Loboi narrated that the area is calm, but added that the local populations are worried because it is the second time for such incident involving foreign forces to be reported in the area.

“Up to now, I have not yet gotten information about the returning of the cattle taken. The whole report I have given to the state authority up to now, I have not got any call from the state authority to inform me about the return of the cattle,” he said.

“The citizens are still yearning and waiting for when their livestock will be returned, because this is not the first time. On April 21st, the animals also were taken, and when we followed it on the 11th of November, we got the animals already also sold.”

“The worry of the people is that they (UPDF) told me when we met on the 22nd November, that those animals will be used for treating their officers who have been wounded.”

The commissioner said the communities said the missing livestock are 14 while a brigade commander in the Ugandan army insist that he is only holding 10 cows.

“The number of animals taken, according to the owners, they got the missing animals were 14. But when I asked the officer there, the brigade commander, they said there are 10. It is complicating.”

“I don’t know if it’s about that one because I as a commissioner, I’m not responsible of the issue of the border. The border issue is the national government. I’m only doing administrative issues.”

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.