Tension is mounting between the district leaders of Yumbe district and South Sudanese authorities in Kajokeji over a piece of land the Sudanese have built a health center.
The land located in Kerwa Sub County, is over 15 kilometers inside Yumbe in Uganda and the attempts by the district leaders to stop the construction of Majikta health center failed after the Sudanese claimed the land in question to be theirs.
Because Yumbe district leaders led by the LC 5 chairman Yassin Taban have petitioned President Yoweri Museveni to intervene to address the standoff before it degenerates in to war.
In an interview on Wednesday, Taban said he is disappointed with the decision by the Sudanese authorities to build the health center and open land in the area for farming. He explained that residents in the area are putting the leaders under pressure and if the government delays to intervene it could lead to a big problem.
According to Taban, the land that the Sudanese are claiming was occupied during the Anyanya war when Ugandans allowed them to settle there but now they want to claim total ownership.
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Marijani Akasa, a local resident of Kerwa sub county in which the disputed health center is located, says they were not very disappointed with the health center but the biggest problem is that the Sudanese are opening a big chunk of land for farming.
He says since the Sudanese started farming, many residents have become worried because land is the only asset they have and if it is grabbed they will be left with nothing.
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Another resident, Abdul Rasul says sometimes South Sudanese soldiers come to the area with guns that scare residents because many of them are now thinking of what will happen in the next day. He says some people have even abandoned tilling their land because of the threat from the Sudanese.
South Sudanese authorities in Kajokeji who have been accused of grabbing the land have not yet commended on the issue. But one of the Sudanese nationals, Biajo Kule, who is currently settled in the disputed area, says the land belongs to them and that is why they have come to build a health center to help them.
Recently, there was another border conflict in Moyo when South Sudanese nationals brought graders and started opening land 15 kilometers inside the district claiming the land belongs to them. Security operatives intervened and arrested those behind the move.
