Kapoeta East, Eastern Equatoria (Eye Radio) – In a move aimed at enhancing service delivery and government presence in remote areas, the government of Eastern Equatoria State has announced the creation of the Kauto Administrative Area.

This new administrative unit, established by Governor Louis Lobong Lojore through a Gubernatorial Order issued on June 18, 2025, was formerly part of Kapoeta East County.

Located in the extreme southeastern part of South Sudan, bordering both Kenya and Ethiopia, the Kauto region has historically suffered from severe isolation and a lack of essential services.

Speaking to Eye Radio this morning, Elias Ahaji, the State Minister of Information, explained that this neglected part of Kapoeta East County has long been cut off from vital services such as healthcare, education, and security.

“Kapoeta is the largest county in the whole of the Republic of South Sudan. As part of that county, most of the government services have never reached there; the majority of the population are living on their own,” Minister Ahaji stated.

“They are experiencing a lot of displacement from service delivery, insecurity, and without knowledge of the government.”

“The government wants to make sure that their presence is established in those areas so that we can help to alleviate the conditions they are suffering. That is the major driving motive for establishing Kauto administrative area, which is to provide services to those people who have been living there for a long time.”

Minister Ahaji further revealed that the immediate focus for the Kauto Administrative Area will be the urgent delivery of basic services.

“First of all, we want to ensure health services reach those people. We know health is the major concern; for any community to be productive, it must have a healthy population,” he emphasized.

“We are emphasizing health, we are emphasizing education, and then security, which is paramount. We want people there to establish a streamlined communication between that remote area with the state government, and then with the general government of the Republic of South Sudan.”

“We want to establish in that area: education, health, and then water, and security. Those are the four major targets that we would like to see happening in that area.”

The creation of Kauto as an administrative area is a direct response to these long-standing service gaps, signalling the state government’s commitment to reaching its most marginalized populations.