Geographic location of Kajo-keji County

The Chief of Bori Boma in Kajo-Keji County is calling on the governments of South Sudan and Uganda to find a peaceful and amicable resolution to the dispute, and reopening of the border.

The UPDF closed the border linking Kajo-Keji with Uganda last month in September 2023.

The call came ahead of the visit by the Ugandan State Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs to Juba on Thursday, October 5.

According to South Sudan Ambassador to Uganda, Simon Juac the deputy minister of Foreign Affairs will be accompanied by other Uganda senior government officials.

Last Month, Kajokeji County Commissioner said the UPDF troops trespassed South Sudan territory and were seen setting up tents.

The border dispute later prompted the Ugandan Authorities to close the border point between Kajo-Keji county and Uganda’s western Nile region.

Eresto Tumia, the chief of Bori Boma says traders, school-going children in Uganda and their families have been affected by the closure of the border.

According to him, over 215 locals have been displaced from the area.

“I want the border to be opened because there are people in the camp who need to come back and there are children studying in Uganda who have been also blocked,” Chief Tumia said.

“There are also around 215 people who have been chased from their houses in Uganda and now they are here,” he said.

“I expect the meeting between the two governments to address the border issue because we do not want any fight with Uganda, let them just go back to where they came from”.