South Sudan, Uganda border dispute to be resolved by joint border committee

South Sudan has agreed with neighboring Uganda to reactivate the joint border commission to resolve the border dispute along Kajo-Keji County and Uganda’s Yumbe district.

 Ramadan Mohammed Abdallah Goc, the deputy minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, said President Salva Kiir and his counterpart Yoweri Museveni agreed to reactivate joint commission for demarcation of the border.

“We will bring the British experts, they know where South Sudan ends,” said Goc during ceremony held to congratulate James Pitia Morgan for being appointed minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation by his Kuku community of Kajo Keji County in Juba on Saturday.

“People of Kajokeji are very concerned about the encroachment between South Sudan and Uganda, our border is the only border that was first demarcated in Africa,” said Goc.

In 2016, a joint border committee was formed by South Sudan and Uganda to resolve the border dispute between the two countries but the work on border demarcation has not yet been implemented.

The Joint border committee was supposed to consult with the communities from both sides, along the border before the process of border demarcation by the team of surveyors is implemented.

Goc revealed that the border of South Sudan was internationally recognized and demarcated before Uganda become independent, adding that borders of South Sudan will remain unchanged.

“South Sudan and Uganda have no issues, people know themselves and we share so many social things together, we have documents with us in the ministry of foreign affairs,” he said.

In September, 2023, Ernesto Tumia, the chief of Bori Boma in Kajokeji County was arrested by Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) following a dispute over land along the border.

In retaliation, 13 Ugandans accused of carrying out illegal charcoal burning and farming activities in Bori Boma were subsequently arrested by the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces.