Can South Sudan stand on its Feet to Protect its Territory and People?
By Ariik Atekdit, Juba, South Sudan
Sunday, 03 August 2025 (PW) — In 2023, it was the Kenyan government eyeing a takeover of Nadapal; today, we see Uganda making claims on Kajokeji. Just few years ago, Sudan asserted its claims over Hufur Nias, Kefia Kenji, Abyei, Heglig, Kaka, and Joda/Wunthou. What can we truly protect? Who will stand up for our land against foreign threats and encroachment in a nation so fractured along ethnic lines? We have largely identified ourselves as tribesmen, caught up in conflicts that only serve to weaken our collective well-being.
Where has our sovereignty gone? Can the people of Kajokejireally defend themselves against a well-armed force from Uganda? While we don’t want to go to war with Uganda, it is crucial for our nation to focus on building a strong army that commands respect in the region.
On top of that, our internal security is shaky, impacting both rural and urban areas. For the past year, I haven’t been able to visit my ancestral village due to the insecurity caused by internal strife. This chaos continues because the state government is worried that the community is better armed than its own forces.
South Sudan as a nation has never stayed united since its war against Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) at Abyei in 2011 and Panthou/Heglig in 2012. The Sudanese government provoked South Sudan twice heavily after the referendum & independence to which the people of South Sudan immensely stood their feet and fought back Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) to the extent that the international community in the name of TRIOKA and others were worried and tried to threaten South Sudan to withdraw from what they claimed to be Sudanese territory. This proves that we are not a weak nation. We then had a strong army which was not disintegrated, and which hada common national agenda.
The war of Panthou/Heglig and Abyei combined questioned the South Sudanese on their contribution in playing a role to protect their territory from foreign aggression wherever they may rise irrespective of whichever part of the country the aggression may start. We all where witnesses when the communities across South Sudan contributed their materialresources in forms of livestock, mobilizing youth to voluntarily join the then SPLA as recruits to support the government of the Republic of South Sudan fighting against its oldest enemy in the north.
Contributing resources in kind and manpower to fight for the liberation is not new to South Sudanese communities, they have been doing this since 1955, however, the initiatives of 2011 and 2012 were the latest being supervised by one command in Juba, a government every community claim to be their own. Within 2012 the country declared its first economic crisis in the name of austerity measures after the oil shutdown. By 2013 the country was engaged in civil war because of the political differences within the ruling SPLM party.
Truly speaking, the recruits which were mobilized for the war of Abyei and Panthou/Heglig never officially joined the national army. The ones in Bahr el Ghazal became Mathiang Anyor, the ones in Western Equatoria became the arrow boys, in Eastern Equatoria they became Monji-monji of Lotuko and Taposa, Abushok in Upper Nile for the Jieng, Agwelek among the Shilluk, Terchuong in Unity State and white army largely in Jonglei and Upper Nile for Nuer communities. All these recruits never had the standard procedure and were not well-trained, and moreover, their training was not fully supervised by the government and that might have changed the objectives and the purposes of their establishments. With exception of Mathiang Anyor and maybe partly white army which wereused to fight against themselves between the government and the SPLM/A-IO, the rest were armed and largely integrated in their local communities and could only react responding to their community interests.
The crisis of 2013 led to a dramatic increase in the number of firearms in civilian hands, which only fueled communal and regional conflicts throughout the country. Many soldiers abandoned their posts, heading back to their villages where they either handed over their weapons to family members, sold them off, or used them in the ongoing communal conflicts living the very country vulnerable and prone to intimidation by neighbouring nations.
Today, communities are heavily armed and often dismiss any form of government protection, feeling empowered enough to challenge state forces and disrupt national policies. The situations in Tonj and Nasir highlight this concerning trend. Consequently, the government is finding it harder to safeguard the lives and property of its citizens, resulting in a growing crisis of governance and security.
The government thought it was a fair deal to let civilians have easy access to firearms, allowing them to defend themselves without having to depend on state protection. However, this decision has resulted in the weakening of the national army. Many soldiers have abandoned their posts and can no longer justify receiving their salaries, a problem that has lingered for years.
When strong military action is necessary to tackle security issues in places like Juba, Nasir, and Warrap, the country often finds itself relying on support from Uganda. Ironically, this dependence means using funds that the government has neglected to allocate to its own military forces.
Now that we have let the country fall apart and create deep divisions, a young man from the Nuer or Jieng communities might think twice about fighting in Greater Equatoria. They could be seen as land grabbers and might even face violence from their fellow South Sudanese. Plus, there’s the risk of their livestock being killed just for crossing into Equatoria territory.
On another note, the Ugandan military, which Juba has relied on, has officially moved into South Sudan’s territory in Kajokeji. So, who is going to protect our land? The people in Kajokeji are no match for a well-armed Ugandan military. While we don’t want to start a war with Uganda, South Sudan really needs to focus on building its own army to a level that commands respect in the region.
If you want to submit an opinion article, commentary, or news analysis, please email it to the editor: info@paanluelwel.com or paanluel2011@gmail.com. PaanLuel Wël Media (PW) website does reserve the right to edit or reject material before publication. Please include your full name, a short biography, email address, city, and the country you are writing from.
About Post Author
Great article bro. The problem us that our leaders do not take advise. Thanks