Uganda, South Sudan hold talks to boost trade, security and border cooperation

What the report says

Nile Post reported that Uganda and South Sudan began a two-day bilateral meeting in Arua City focused on easing border-related tensions, improving trade, coordinating immigration issues and strengthening security cooperation. The talks brought together senior officials from both governments to consider challenges faced by communities along the shared frontier and to support wider regional integration.

According to the report, the delegations were expected on Friday, July 24, to create joint working committees tasked with proposing practical responses on border management, trade facilitation and the movement of people. Uganda’s delegation was led by Ronnie Balya, Uganda’s ambassador to South Sudan, who urged lawful cross-border movement of people, goods and services. Arua Resident District Commissioner Goffin Gore also called for attention to unclear border demarcations while emphasizing that communities can maintain peaceful ties despite national boundaries.

South Sudan’s delegation was led by Emmanuel Adil Anthony, governor of Central Equatoria State, who conveyed condolences over the death of Gen. (Rtd.) Moses Ali and greetings from President Salva Kiir Mayardit. Anthony thanked Uganda for hosting displaced South Sudanese, saying Uganda remains home to more than two million refugees, most of them from South Sudan. He described some border disagreements as local issues that should not undermine relations between Juba and Kampala, and called for more trade, peaceful coexistence and action against smuggling.

The Nile Post report said both sides recognized the colonial origins of the current international boundary and expected political guidance from Presidents Yoweri Museveni and Salva Kiir. The discussions matter because better coordination could reduce border friction and support commerce between East and Central Africa.