Elders worked to calm tensions along the disputed border of Uganda and South Sudan over the weekend as clashes continued between the Kuku and Ma’di people.

The two communities have been locked in a series of revenge attacks after South Sudanese people detained Ugandan census takers in the disputed Wano area along the border.

Talks were held in Moyo in Uganda between representatives from South Sudan and Uganda to bring an end to the crisis which has resulted in numerous deaths and the displacement of thousands of people.

South Sudanese Bishop Anthony Poggo said the talks “ended well" with calls for “peace and good neighborliness.”

“The main resolution was that all stakeholders should call on the fighting communities to stop fighting each other with immediate effect,” Poggo said in an online statement.

“Secondly, the two governments agreed to deploy joint security forces to patrol the Uganda-South Sudan border so as to prevent further fighting.”

On Thursday, Uganda deployed its military to Moyo to quell the unrest, the Daily Monitor newspaper reported.

The bishop added that the two delegations, comprised of twenty members each, agreed that the South Sudanese and Ugandan national governments should quickly verify and demarcate the border, which has not been properly assessed in over fifty years.

“The Ugandan delegation was led by General Moses Ali, the 2nd Deputy Prime Minister, while the South Sudan side was led by Honorable Sube Samuel Manase, the Central Equatoria Minister of Information,” said Poggo, who himself joined the South Sudan side to represent Kajo Keji churches.

Social fabric unbroken

Meanwhile, Kajo Keji county elder Scopas Jibi Dima tried to bring the two communities together, saying the clashes could not break the social fabric woven between the groups.

Jibi, who is also the Central Equatoria state cabinet affairs minister, said the fighting could be stopped and grievances buried, Catholic Radio News (CRN) reported.

He called for compensation of lost property and punishment of perpetrators to allow reconciliation and counseling.

Clashes continued

The calls for peace and reconciliation came as violence continued. Seven people were killed in clashes on Thursday, according to Reuters news agency.

"I am informed last evening Ugandan youth entered South Sudan and killed a South Sudanese woman. In retaliation, South Sudanese militants entered Uganda and killed five people at around midnight," Ugandan military spokesperson Paddy Ankunda told Reuters.

Kajo-Keji County Senior Information Inspector Beden Elikana Keny said South Sudanese residents attacked Moyo in Uganda and captured twelve Ma’di women who are now in the custody of South Sudan police, CRN reported.

Elikana said sixteen people died in clashes following a Moyo attack in South Sudan.

He said the dead included ten Moyo and six South Sudanese among them a schoolboy, an elder, and a pregnant woman. He said twenty wounded are in Mulago Hospital and that 90 households had been burned plus 37 cattle stolen.

Two people were killed in Eria Village in Moyo on Thursday, according to the Ugandan Daily Monitor newspaper. Rapes have also been reported.

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