Uganda, South Sudan Renew Commitment to Lasting Peace Along Shared Border

What the report says

Watchdog Uganda reports that officials and community representatives from Uganda and South Sudan met in Arua City on 25 July 2026 and renewed commitments to peace, security and socio-economic cooperation along their shared border. The reconciliation meeting, held at Hotel Le-Confidentiel, focused on the long-running dispute affecting communities around Yumbe District in Uganda and Kajo Keji County in South Sudan.

According to the report, citing a statement by Acting Director of Defence Public Information Col. Chris Magezi, the meeting produced several resolutions. These included a plan to re-demarcate a disputed 6.12-kilometre stretch of the Yumbe-Kajo Keji border, improve joint intelligence work, strengthen communication channels for reporting cross-border incidents, and hold a cultural and sports event involving the Kuku and Aringa communities to support reconciliation.

Uganda’s Minister of State for Defence and Veteran Affairs in charge of Veteran Affairs, Huda Abason Oleru, said the two countries’ relations had helped border communities continue trade and coexistence, and she pledged to take concerns from the meeting to national authorities. The report says she also called for better roads and modern markets to support commerce, and encouraged cultural preservation in the West Nile sub-region. Central Equatoria Governor Emmanuel Anthony Wani Andee Adi, representing South Sudan, urged speedy implementation of the resolutions.

The meeting also involved local leaders, religious leaders, women and youth representatives, security officials, the UPDF and the SSPDF. Uganda’s ambassador to South Sudan, Brig. Gen. Ronnie Balya, linked some tensions to colonial-era boundary arrangements that divided closely connected communities, and urged development-focused cooperation over minor land disputes.