Border Tensions Rekindle in Magwi County
Residents of Pajok Payam in Eastern Equatoria say Ugandan troops entered the Otwilo area on 19 August, detaining two young men and dismantling several homes. The youths were released, yet household goods reportedly vanished, deepening concern among returnees.
Uganda People’s Defence Forces officials in Lamwo District were unreachable for comment, but Kampala has previously justified cross-border patrols as anti-smuggling measures. Juba, however, regards any unilateral deployment beyond agreed markers as a violation of sovereignty.
Community Testimonies Stress Urgency
Pajok community chairperson Ojok Francis Laboke described the incursion as “malicious” and warned that relentless patrols in Patoko, Parapadwanya and Abuloro are sowing fear among families returning from refugee camps.
“We rehabilitate roads to trade, not to flee,” he told local reporters, urging state and national leaders to open direct talks with Uganda so that border villages can farm, study and worship without escort.
A History of Flashpoints Since 2020
Border friction is not new. In October 2020, witnesses said UPDF soldiers killed two civilians in Pogee and briefly captured a South Sudan People’s Defence Forces trooper. Last year, huts and crops were reportedly burnt during a similar standoff.
Analysts link the pattern to hazy colonial-era demarcations and competing claims over fertile land and timber. Without joint verification, each episode risks entrenching mistrust on both sides of the imaginary line.
Economic Lifelines at Risk
Traders in Magwi rely on Lamwo markets for salt, fuel and mobile money, while Ugandan merchants buy South Sudanese sorghum. Interruptions raise prices, curb remittances and, according to the Chamber of Commerce, shave crucial points off county revenues.
Humanitarian agencies also fear that displaced families could drift back to camps in Uganda, complicating plans for voluntary repatriation funded by regional donors.
Diplomacy and Dialogue Prospects
Juba’s Foreign Ministry says a bilateral border commission, dormant since 2019, will reconvene this quarter to review GPS data and traditional boundary testimonies. Officials hope the forum will cool tempers ahead of South Sudan’s planned 2024 elections.
Ugandan scholars, including Makerere University’s Sabiti Makara, argue that community policing and shared grazing corridors could stabilise daily life while governments negotiate final maps.
Regional Security Stakes for East Africa
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development warns that even low-intensity disputes may offer safe passage to illicit arms and cattle raiders operating between Kidepo and Budi. Coordinated patrols and intelligence-sharing are therefore deemed critical to broader Sahel-to-Coast stability plans.
For now, Pajok farmers weed their plots under watchful eyes, hoping that words will replace gunfire long before the next harvest.