Nadapal remains tense as South Sudan, Kenya begin talks to end tiff

Calm is creeping back along the restive Nadapal border in Kapoeta, Eastern Equatoria State, after neighbouring communities from Kenya and South Sudan clashed.

According to Kapoeta East County Commissioner Abdallah Lokeno, eight people were killed in Tuesday and Wednesday’s clash, causing the border closure, although youth from both sides have disengaged from the fight.

“Eight people lost their lives in the clashes on Tuesday and Wednesday, and others got injured, including our police officer who was attacked in his office at the border,” the commissioner told The City Review on Thursday.

According to him, the tragedy occurred as a result of Turkana youth encroaching on Toposa grazing fields—an area that has courted controversy and fueled communal clashes.

“Our youth have heeded our appeals and returned to their various places, but with a strong demand that they want to see urgent action taken by the South Sudan government on this problem,” he said, adding the youth were demanding immediate action from the two countries to restore the land to them.

According to Lokeno, Kenya’s repeated claim of Nadapal as part of their county was the cause of the high level of animosity.

“Although the state government has deployed a few security personnel to cool the tension, the youth want answers about the land.”

“What they were saying is that they need the country’s leaders, headed by President Salva Kiir, to be clear to them on whether their land is sold out to Kenyans or it is still there,” he added.

Hundreds of people in Kapoeta East County peacefully protested last week after Kenya stationed troops at Nakodok—the area over which the two are claiming ownership.

Later, a number of state MPs alarmed by the government’s silence over the matter said the demonstrators had supported their claims that Kenya had gained control of South Sudanese territory.

On Wednesday, Kenya’s ambassador to South Sudan, Samwel Nandwa, met with South Sudan’s minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, Mayiik Ayii Deng, in Juba over the alleged encroachment on its territory.

The statement issued by the ministry stated that South Sudan wants a diplomatic solution but wants the two countries to address a border dispute with Kenya.

“The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mayiik Ayii Deng, met with the Kenyan Ambassador to South Sudan (Samuel Nandwa) to discuss areas of mutual concern. “Issues concerning our mutual border were raised,” said the statement.

“The minister, on behalf of the government of South Sudan, would like to assure all South Sudanese citizens that the highest levels of government are aware of the sensitivities at the border and are working in cooperation with our neighbours to ensure peace, prosperity, and the maintenance of border integrity,” it said.

​On Thursday, President Salva Kiir dispatched a special envoy to Nairobi to mend relations amidst tension between the two countries over the Nadapal border dispute.

Kiir sent special advisor Benjamin Bol Mel Chol to Nairobi on a diplomatic mission seen as aimed at diffusing the simmering tension.

The clashes erupted early this week after Kenyan security forces reportedly moved to the border point. This was part of a 2009 agreement reached in Nairobi between Kenya and Southern Sudan.

“Our relations are tarnished around the world. As you take up your new assignment, go and normalise our relations with Kenya, especially the recent tension along the border corridor, and also improve our diplomatic relations with other countries,” Kiir told Bol Mel after taking oath of office at J1 on Wednesday.

Kiir said that the issue will be resolved diplomatically, stressing that South Sudan will never slide back to conflict under his leadership.