Uganda and South Sudan have agreed on a blueprint for redrawing their common border, ending the long-simmering border conflicts.
A joint technical committee from the two countries on Friday concluded a three-day meeting for the “delimitation and demarcation” of the border in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, a process facilitated and to be overseen by the African Union, the 55-member continental body, the East African reports.
The blueprint includes expediting the acquisition of documents like certified colonial maps from the UK, carrying out continuous sensitisation of border communities, commencing demarcation of the hotspots once funds are available, and urging respective governments to expeditiously open border access roads to facilitate demarcation.
According to the head of public diplomacy in Uganda’s ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ms Margaret Kafeero, the meeting discussed the technical, logistical and security requirements that will need to be availed before the exercise to delineate the 470km boundary stretch commences, the reports says.
Ms Kafeero further said that the African Union Border Programme experts has provided technical expertise and in-depth consultations to both delegations.
The two countries have had conflict over ownership of some border arrears in the West Nile, specifically in the districts of Moyo and Lamwo.
The border was first drawn by the British, who colonised both Uganda and Sudan, in 1914.
