The local authorities in Kajo-Keji County in Central Equatoria State have demanded the unconditional withdrawal of Ugandan citizens who have encroached on and are squatting in South Sudanese territory in Bamurye Payam.

Kajo-Keji County Commissioner Phanuel Dumo issued the directive while visiting Bamurye Payam on Monday.

Last week, residents of Bamurye Boma in KajoKeji County said they are living in fear after Ugandan nationals entered their village, claimed ownership of the area, and occupied Aderei Primary School where they erected the Ugandan flag.

Speaking following his visit to the area on Monday, Commissioner Dumo said he ordered the illegal settlers to leave Bamurye immediately.

“Ugandans have an interest in our land to carry out logging and mining of mineral resources that may be available in our land,” he said. “For this reason, we told the group that we found there to immediately leave Kaji-Kejo and we have scheduled a meeting with the Resident District Commissioners of Moyo and Yumbe districts in Uganda."

According to Dumo, the encroachers said they were persuaded by a man called Khamis Wajaras to settle in Bamurye Payam.

“When interviewed, some of them realized that the type of buildings was different to the ones in Uganda and acknowledged that they were sorry because it is not their intention and that they were mobilized and told that this is a free land that belongs to the Republic of Uganda,” he said.

For his part, a resident of the Yumbe District in Uganda who only identified himself as Mansoor said he came to the area due to a shortage of farmland in Uganda.

“If you look at these people, they have just come here because of land shortage. I came here on Sunday just to get a piece of land for farming,” he said. “For sure, when you look at these buildings and the mangoes, this land belongs to our brothers from South Sudan.”