rift valley institute | Contested Borderlands Dividing Communities in South Sudan and Northern Uganda Boundary disputes and land governance CHERRY LEONARDI AND MARTINA SANTSCHI rift VALLEY institute | Contested Borderlands Dividing Communities in South Sudan and Northern Uganda Boundary disputes and land governance Cherry leonardi and Martina santsChi Published in 2016 by the Rift Valley Institute 26 St Luke’s Mews, London W11 1DF, United Kingdom PO Box 52771 GPO, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya the rift VALLEY institute (RVI) The Rift Valley Institute (www.riftvalley.net) works in Eastern and Central Africa to bring local knowledge to bear on social, political and economic development. the AUTHORS Cherry Leonardi is a senior lecturer in history at Durham University. She is the author of Dealing with Government in South Sudan: Histories of Chiefship, Community and State and a Fellow of the Rift Valley Institute. Martina Santschi is senior researcher at swisspeace and associated researcher at the Institute of Social Anthropology of the University of Bern. She previously conducted field research in Northern Bahr el-Ghazal for her doctoral thesis, Encountering and ‘capturing’ hakuma: Negotiating statehood and authority in Northern Bahr el-Ghazal, South Sudan. MaPs The maps in this report have been produced to illustrate the discussion of contentious boundaries and do not imply endorsement by RVI or the authors. Maps have been compiled from a combination of archival and non-archival sources, listed in the bibliography. The various international boundary lines shown on Map 2 represent temporary agreements or proposals, not official delineations. Credits RVI aCtinG eXeCutive direCtor: Philip Winter RVI ProGraMMe ManaGer, PuBliCATIONS: Tymon Kiepe RVI ProGraMMe ManaGer, sudan and south sudan: Ellie Hobhouse RVI ProGraMMe offiCer, CoMMuniCATIONS: Connor Clerke editor: Kate McGuinness desiGn: Lindsay Nash MaPs: Jillian Luff, MAPgrafix ISBN 978-1-907431-46-3 Cover: The Rains Have Come by South Sudanese artist James Kuol Makuac (www.jameskuolmakuac.tumblr.com). riGhts Copyright © Rift Valley Institute 2016 Cover image © James Kuol Makuac 2016 Text and maps published under Creative Commons License Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 Available for free download at www.riftvalley.net Printed copies are available from Amazon and other online retailers, and from selected bookstores. Contents Acknowledgments 6 Summary 8 1. Introduction 12 2. Contesting the line: Conflict on the South Sudan–Uganda border 22 3. The politics of territory and identity: Disputes over international 49 and internal boundaries 4. Land belongs to the people? Hybrid land governance 72 5. From inclusion to exclusion? Changing and debating customary 99 land rights 6. Conclusion 137 7. Policy considerations 145 Glossary of acronyms, words and phrases 148 Bibliography 150 MaPs, diaGraMs and TABles Map 1. South Sudan and Uganda, showing areas of detailed maps 4 on following page Map 2. The South Sudan–Uganda border area, including 5 Kajokeji County and Moyo District Map 3. Aweil East County in Northern Bahr el-Ghazal, South Sudan 5 South Sudan Diagram 1. Administrative structures and governance in 16 South Sudan and Uganda Table 1. Sections and sub-sections by payam in Aweil East 21 County, Northern Bahr el-Ghazal N SUDANSUDAN Renk Kadugli UPPER ile Kiir N NILE Abyei ite Wh Bunj r al Ghazal AbyeAbyeii Bah Malakal KKaa NORTHERN Kingi BAHR EL-GHAZAL BentiuBentiu So ba AwAweil Jur UNITY t Raga Kwajok WESTERN ru u Mayendit BAHR EL- K WARRAP ETHIOPIATHIOPIA GHAZAL Akobo P Wau i b o JONGLEI r B RRumbekumbek ah Pibor r a l J CENTRALCENTRAL LAKES eb el AFRICAFRICAN Bor WESTERN REPUBLIEPUBLIC EQUATORIA SOUTH SUDAN EASTERN Juba EQUATORIA YambioYambio CENTRAL EQUATORIA Torit Lakeke TuTurkanarkana Nimule Moyo A s e w DEMOCRATIDEMOCRATIC il a N t LodwarLodwar r e NORTHERN RREEPUBLIEPUBLICPUBLICC Arua lb A Gulu OFOF THE CONGOCONGOG MorMoroototo 0 km 200 UGANDA Jaber Lira LaL ke AlbeA rtr Soroti Research area BuniaBunia L. Kyoga V i Contested 1956 c t o EASTERN KitaleKitale North-South border ria CENTRAL N i l e EldoretEldoret Disputed area BeniBeni Kyenjojo Tororo WESTERN International KaseKasesese Katonga Kampala Jinja border KENKENYYAYA Laakek Entebbe LAKES State/region Edwardd Mbarara Juba National capital Lake Victoria Bor Chief town Lira Other town/village Selected road/track GuluGull BukBukoba Railway Kigalig Selected river RWANDANDA Lake TTAANZANIA MAP Boundaries are approximate BujumburaBuBjjumburaj ur gr © Rift Valley Institute 2016 ax BURUNDIBURUNDB NDN 2016 Boundaries and names shown do not imply South Sudan states are according to the www.riftvalley.net endorsement by the RVI or any other body Comprehensive Peace Agreement (2005) Map 1. South Sudan and Uganda, showing areas of detailed maps on following page 31°15’E31°31°11 31°30’E 31°45’E 32°00’E32°00’200 E SOUTH SUDAN SOUTH SUDAN B ah N r e l J eb UGANDA Mere el (W h it Wudu e N ile ) Keriwa Hill yo a Ka w a a y y N N 3°45’N CheiChC ei HHilliilll Lodwa Hill Jale Hill Afoji Logoba YYiingibayngibay Moyo MMountount Midigo e Nile) LeLeforifor hit Elegu e (W Undemarcated interpretation of 1914 Order Nil rt 1933 unadopted Sudanese proposal be Al 1933 unadopted Ugandan proposal 3°30’N3°45’N 1936 ad hoc administrative agreement 1958 ad hoc administrative agreement Border according to 1967 Uganda constitution UGANDA Moyo Administrative centre AdjumaniAdjumani Wudu Other town/village MAP Selected hill 0 km 20 Selected road/track gr ax River © Rift Valleylley Institute 20162016 2016 Boundaries are approximate. Please see the colophon page. Boundaries and names shown do not implyimply www.riftvalleyriftvalley.net.net endorsement byby the RVI or anyany other bodbodyy Map 2. The South Sudan–Uganda border area, including Kajokeji County and Moyo District AbyeAbA yeyei M M M B M Y W a a a a a a u SUDAN r a n d g n l n u c h g g o l a a o t a o l SUDAN n b l k r © Rift Valley Institute 2016 t g a o i n Boundaries and names shown do not imply g www.riftvalley.net endorsement by the RVI or any other body SOUTH SUDAN Contested 1956 NORTHERNNONORO RTR T BAHR EL- GHAZAL North-South border Disputed area Aweil East BAHR State SOUTH SUDAN AAwweeilil Baac East County NorthNorth Warawar Baac Payam WARRAP State capital Mangok Mangartong Madhol Malualbai County Wanyjok headquarters Yargot Maluakon Payam headquarters Wunlang Mabil Lo Akuem Main marketplace l Akuem MAP Other town/village/village Aweeilil Akun Selected road/trackd/track Aweil gr WeWestst ax River/lake South om 2016 AweAweeiilil Ku Boundaries are approximate 0km 15 South Sudan states are according to the Aweileie l Cenntntrere ApadaApadA a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (2005) Map 3. Aweil East County in Northern Bahr el-Ghazal, South Sudan Acknowledgments The authors would like to acknowledge the generous funding of the research by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung, support from swisspeace and the funding of this publication by Durham University and the UK Economic and Social Research Council. We are grateful to the relevant authorities in the governments of South Sudan and Uganda for allowing us to under- take research, and particularly to those who helped our fieldwork in 2014: the Local Councils and Resident District Commissioner in Moyo District; the County Commissioner and County Council in Kajokeji County; the Deputy Governor of Central Equatoria State; the State Government in Northern Bahr el-Ghazal and the Aweil East County Administration. We thank the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology and Makerere University Institute of Social Research for facilitating a research permit in Uganda, and the South Sudan Ministry of Culture and Juba University for assisting with our research in South Sudan. We are very grateful for the assistance of staff at the South Sudan National Archives, the Uganda National Archives, Makerere University Library, the UK National Archives, the Sudan National Records Office, the Gulu and Moyo District Records Offices and the Sudan Archive, Durham. Professor Tim Allen most generously gave access to his personal archive. Many other people have assisted our research or read and commented on drafts of the report at different stages, providing invaluable advice and suggestions: we would like to thank Leben Moro, Jok Madut Jok, Judith Bamuturaki, Peter Justin, Pamela Khanakwa, Julian Hopwood, Douglas Johnson, Luka Biong Deng, Naomi Pendle, Zoe Cormack, Bruno Braak, Justin Willis, Philip Winter, Timm Sureau, Lotje de Vries, Andrea Iff, Mareike Schomerus, Adrian Browne, Beth Laruni, Manuel Schwab, David Deng, Holly Porter and the anonymous reviewers. Tymon Kiepe, the managing editor at the Rift Valley Institute, has been extremely patient, cooperative and constructive throughout the process of producing this report, and we also thank Connor Clerke and Ellie Hobhouse. Above all we are grateful to the many people in Aweil Town, Aweil East County, Juba, Kajokeji County and Moyo District who so generously gave us their time and shared their knowledge and experiences with us. 6 aCknowledGMents 7 Many of the issues discussed were of pressing concern and sensitivity for our informants, and we particularly appreciate the trust placed in us. For this reason, we cannot name them individually, but we hope that the report reflects their concerns as accurately as possible. Finally, the research depended on the knowledge, skill and hard work of our assistants, interpreters and drivers: Alimure Modi Waran Jansuk, Taban George Matthew, Ronald Iya, Mawien Ajou Deng Mareng and Dut Chan Madut Chiec. Summary Many people in South Sudan and northern Uganda—like others around the world—see boundaries and borders as a potential source of clarity, security and conflict prevention. Political and economic ambitions, along with fears of discrimination or exclusion from land lead to the promotion of more rigid boundaries, both on the ground and between groups of people.