Magwi County, Eastern Equatoria State

DEMOGRAPHY

2008 NBS Census population: 169,826
2021 NBS PES population estimate*: 145,384
2022 UN OCHA population estimate*: 265,366

Ethnic groups: Acholi and Ma’di

Displacement Figures Q3 2022: 62,306 IDPs (+46,994 Q1 2020) and 10,018 returnees (-58,953 Q1 2020)
IPC Food Security: November 2022 – Crisis (Phase 3); IPC Projections: December to March 2023 – Crisis (Phase 3); April to July 2023 – Crisis (Phase 3)

ECONOMY & LIVELIHOODS

Magwi County is located in Eastern Equatoria State. It borders Torit County to the north-east, Ikotos County to the east, and Central Equatoria State (Juba and Kajo-Keji Counties) to the west. It also has a long border with Uganda to the south.

The county is a part of the highland forest and sorghum livelihoods zone (FEWSNET 2018). It is located within South Sudan’s greenbelt region, making it a key area of food production for the country’s food supply. The main crops grown are cassava, maize and sorghum, with some cultivation of sweet potatoes, beans and groundnuts. An estimated 75% of households in Magwi County engaged in farming, with a gross cereal yield of 1.82 tonnes per hectare in 2021 (FAO/WFP 2022), declining slightly to 1.8 tonnes per hectare in 2022 (FAO/WFP 2023). Magwi’s border with Uganda and proximity to the major trade routes in South Sudan has historically allowed farmers to sell their crops in major markets such as Juba and Torit. As most of the county’s formal food imports come from or through Uganda, the Kampala-Nimule-Juba trading route is highly important.

Growing insecurity across Magwi County since 2016, as well as ambushes and banditry along main roads, have contributed to food insecurity in the county. The IPC projected the county as being at a crisis (IPC level 3) level of food insecurity in November 2022, with conditions projected to persist at the same level until at least mid-2023. A 2020 REACH assessment found residents in 92% of assessed settlements were coping with a lack of food by only having children eat and residents in 67% of settlements described the hunger they were experiencing as severe or the worst it can be. However, a 2022 REACH assessment reported significant improvements across most indicators.

INFRASTRUCTURE & SERVICES

Magwi Town in Magwi Payam hosts the county’s headquarters, although the location and administration of Magwi County has been highly contested between the Acholi and Ma’di communities (see ‘Conflict Dynamics’, below). Magwi County’s location on South Sudan’s border with Uganda means that many towns in the county are key points on important transportation and trade routes. Both before and during the conflict in South Sudan, the town of Nimule has been an important transit point for those crossing the border. During times of instability, it also served as an area for IDPs to flee to and to seek safety but also to across international borders as refugees if necessary.

Magwi County is home to thirty-two (32) Early Childhood Development centres, seventy-four (74) primary schools and twenty (20) secondary schools. The secondary schools are concentrated in Magwi and Nimule payams with Lobone Secondary and Agola Secondary the lone representatives of Lobone and Pajok payams respectively.

Magwi County was reported to have forty-nine (49) health facilities including thirty-six (36) functional health facilities, among them twenty-three (23) PHCUs, twelve (12) PHCCs and one (1) hospital in 2022. This means that there were an estimated 1.30 PHCUs per 15,000 people and 1.89 PHCCs per 50,000 people according to the WHO. Nimule Hospital was reported to be moderately functional.

According to OCHA’s Humanitarian Needs Overview 2023, around 148,536 people in the county have humanitarian needs (a significant increase from 2021, when 90,100 were estimated to have humanitarian needs), which represents approximately 56% of the estimated population for Magwi County reported in the HNO. This follows in the wake of increasing conflict in the county in early 2022 – primarily between elements of the Ma’di and Dinka Bor pastoralists – that also resulted in insecurity in and around Nimule town (UNSC 2022), as is discussed further below.

As more South Sudanese return to the country after fleeing abroad, Magwi’s location on the international border makes it a probable location for high rates of refugee returnees, although the rate of return slowed significantly between 2020 and 2022. In areas affected by pre-existing tensions, such as Magwi, increases in spontaneous refugee returns have the potential to increase competition and disputes over land and resources.

CONFLICT DYNAMICS

Magwi’s strategic position on the border with Uganda has made it vulnerable to multiple conflict dynamics, including those associated with militia formation, cross-border conflict, and the movement of displaced populations. These have occurred alongside rounds of violent conflict linked to attempts at controlling critical parts of the border itself, or the infrastructure connecting Juba to the border town of Nimule. Social, political and economic re-ordering associated with both periods of war and peace have impacted relations between the Acholi and Ma’di communities, whilst the legacies of wartime displacement – including the displacement of pastoralist communities from Jonglei State to Magwi County – has created distinctive conflict dynamics following the conclusion of the second Sudanese civil war (1983-2005).

Magwi during the second Sudanese civil war (1983-2005) and LRA peace talks (2006-2008)

 The border town of Nimule was highly contested during the second Sudanese civil war, with the SPLM/A seizing Nimule from some Ma’di-affiliated militias who had opposed the SPLM/A following the alleged killing of a Ma’di MP in 1986 (Schomerus and Allen 2010, p.23).** A number of attempts were made to reconcile affected parts of the Madi and Acholi communities in 1989 and 1990, though achieved only partial success (Simonse 2000, pp.19-20). Meanwhile, some members of the Acholi community were displaced as a result of SPLM/A offensives at Obbo in eastern Magwi (Simonse 2000, p.12).

After the SPLM/A capture of Nimule, many Ma’di residents of the area fled to northern Uganda, whilst in the early 1990s displaced Dinka Bor from Jonglei State arrived in Nimule following attacks in Bor in 1991 (discussed further in the profile for Bor South County). As is discussed below, this set the stage for ongoing tensions in Magwi, amid contested claims surrounding the status of the Dinka Bor as local residents (Moro 2015). In 1992, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) engaged in an offensive against the SPLM/A, which prioritised the recapturing of Nimule. The ability of the SPLM/A to hold Nimule was hampered by interference with its logistics supply lines into northern Uganda from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), who were reportedly sponsored by Khartoum after 1993, whilst SAF forces (who consolidated control over much of Magwi County in 1992 and 1993) continued to assault the town. The SPLM/A were able to retain control of Nimule throughout the war (Madut-Arop 2006, p.312).

During the mid-1990s, the LRA established itself in parts of Magwi and Juba counties, and became especially active in Magwi, with recurrent attacks on civilians generating significant displacement. The Ugandan army (the UPDF) deployed to parts of Magwi (including Nimule) since at least 2002, though the deployment came to be associated with increased military recruitment, alleged abuses of civilians, and unauthorised exploitation of teak (Schomerus 2012). After a meeting between the governors of Greater Equatoria in March 2006, anti-LRA militia forces were formed in the region, particularly in Magwi (ICG 2007). During the 2006-2008 Juba-mediated peace talks between Uganda and the LRA, the village of Owiny-Kibul in Magwi was selected as one of two assembly sites for LRA forces (alongside Ri-Kwangba in Ibba County), though was later dropped as an assembly site amid security concerns on the part of the LRA following UPDF military encirclement and operation of SAF-linked forces in the area (Schomerus 2008a; Schomerus 2008b). LRA attacks in Magwi were reported on several occasions during the period of peace negotiations –  which ultimately collapsed in 2008 –  though LRA forces would leave Magwi by mid-2007.

Magwi during the national conflict (2013-2018)

Magwi experienced significant insecurity and fighting during the second half of the national conflict (2013-2018), with fighting reportedly beginning in August 2015 (Radio Tamazuj 2015), several months before conflict was reported in Western Equatoria and nearly a year before large-scale violence in parts of Central and Eastern Equatoria states began. Clashes between government and SPLA-IO forces escalated in 2016 and 2017, displacing much of the population to northern Uganda, with the military alleged to have forcibly depopulated parts of the county (Schouten et al. 2021, p.40). The UN Panel of Experts (2016, p.15) reported looting and sexual violence by government forces in Pajok Payam in October 2016 amid fighting in the area, whilst Human Rights Watch (2017, pp.38-45) alleged that predominantly Dinka members of the South Sudanese military operating alongside Acholi paramilitaries attacked Pajok town, which had previously been affected by tensions within the Acholi community. Human Rights Watch established that at least 14 civilians were killed, whilst the UNSC (2017, p.9) documented 66 Acholi civilian deaths.

Meanwhile, SPLA-IO forces were linked to a number of ambushes of civilian vehicles along the Juba-Nimule highway in the county, including an attack by suspected SPLA-IO elements that killed nine civilians in September 2016 (Sudan Tribune 2016). Attacks on the highway have continued intermittently since the signing of the 2018 R-ARCSS, which typically result in unverifiable accusations and counter-accusations regarding the identity of the perpetrators. As a result of the R-ARCSS, a number of barracks and cantonment sites have been clustered along the Juba-Nimule highway. In addition to persistent insecurity, proliferating checkpoints manned by soldiers have imposed significant costs upon vehicles, particularly trucks (Schouten et al. 2021). In 2021, Ugandan truck drivers undertook a three-week strike to demand additional security to counter extortion and ambushes (Radio Tamazuj 2021a).

The impacts of conflict and peacemaking on identity, resources, and boundaries

Tension between the Ma’di and Acholi communities has resulted in several instances of violent conflict since the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which have centred on disputes relating to ownership and demarcation of land (Schomerus 2008b, p.16). However, despite episodes of violent conflict, inter-marriage among the two communities is common, as are constituencies within both communities that have sought to resist conflict and encourage peaceful relations. Moreover, the Ma’di and Acholi have shared historical experiences (including of displacement and resettlement under colonial governments), as well as common socio-economic structures, with some communities holding dual Ma’di and Acholi identities (Thomas 2015, pp.261-63, 271).

Conflict among these communities has often been the byproduct of national-level political turbulence either side of the South(ern) Sudan-Uganda border, while recent internal border and land disputes that have affected Magwi resonate with similar disputes that increased across much of Eastern Equatoria State in the latter years of the second civil war, and into the CPA era (2005-2011). Such disputes do not always unfold in linear or straightforward ways, with questions relating to ethnic belonging or resource ownership being bound up in processes of social and economic change that have been underway since the CPA. In Magwi factors that have influenced community relations include the large-scale return of displaced persons to the area; distinct perspectives on war-time experiences and rights associated with these experiences; alongside changing attitudes regarding the commercial value as well as the mechanisms through which natural resources are allocated, in particular land. In different circumstances these factors can come together to promote either a softening or hardening of ethnic boundaries (Thomas 2015, pp.276-79).

Conflict between parts of the Acholi and Ma’di flared in late 2011, leading to loss of lives from both communities. The violence partly resulted from the government’s decision to relocate a checkpoint from Pageri to Ame(e) Junction,*** and a subsequent land demarcation process that was contested by local communities. This led to peace talks mediated by religious groups and local authorities in 2012, which reportedly calmed tensions (Peace Agreements Database, n.d.; Thomas 2015, p.271). Among the other areas that are contested by parts of the Acholi and Ma’di communities include Owiny-Kibul (in Pajok Payam) and Opari (in Pageri Payam), with disputes in these areas reportedly linked to land as well as the apportionment of administrative positions (Thomas 2015, p.271).

Border issues have also affected the (majority Ma’di) Pageri Payam and the (majority Acholi) Magwi Payam, with these issues becoming linked to wider demands for new administrative units in the county. According to a consultative report by the Inter Church Committee in 2011, the demand for a separate administrative area or ‘corridor’ was particularly strong on the part of the Ma’di community (Peace Agreements Database, n.d.). Such demands were not opposed by the Acholi community, provided no future administrative units encroached of land perceived to belong to the Acholi. The Pageri Administrative Area was subsequently established in 2014 and covered majority Ma’di areas in the west of the county, with eastern areas continuing to be administered under the name of Magwi County. The current status of the Pageri Administrative Area is unclear, though the Ma’di community reportedly continue to informally make use of the name. Within the (predominantly Acholi) Magwi Payam, conflict has also occurred over the status of Agoro Boma, in the context of attempts to turn Agoro into its own payam (Search for Common Ground 2015, p. 17).

Additionally, parts of Magwi County’s border with Uganda are contested by Acholi communities either side of the border. While a committee has been set up to resolve this dispute, to date there has not been a permanent resolution. SSPDF and UPDF soldiers reportedly clashed in a disputed area to the east of Magwi (The Independent 2020), whilst in mid-2022, the UPDF allegedly made an incursion across the disputed border, resulting in fighting with SSPDF soldiers. The UPDF subsequently withdrew from the area (Radio Tamazuj 2022a).

Legacies of displacement in Magwi

The legacy of displacement of mostly Dinka Bor pastoralists from Jonglei during the second Sudanese civil war and associated militarisation of the area continues to affect community relations and livelihoods in Magwi County. In early 2022, violence involving parts of the Ma’di and Dinka Bor communities escalated following intermittent conflict between the groups since 2007. The tensions were the subject of a 2020 peace forum that made a number of commitments to ease tension between the Ma’di and Dinka Bor pastoralists, and between the Ma’di and security forces (Ochaya 2021).

The Ma’di-Dinka Bor conflict built upon tensions concerning the use of land (including the destruction of crops by cattle) and occupation of dwellings by displaced persons; control of local administration (particularly in Nimule), and concerns regarding perceived disparities in representation and influence over decisions made at the national level (McCrone and the Bridge Network 2021; Shanmugaratnam 2010; Thomas 2015, p.276). In September 2013, the Ma’di paramount chief was killed in Nimule amid disputes relating to land and control of the local government (ICG 2016). These issues were further aggravated by the arrival of increased numbers of cattle from Jonglei State (belonging to the Dinka Bor) in the early stages of the recent national conflict.

These tensions have markedly escalated within Magwi County in recent years. Clashes between local communities and Dinka Bor pastoralists and local communities took place in May 2021 (Radio Tamazuj 2021b), and again in late February 2022 in Ayii, Agoro and Nyolo (Radio Tamazuj 2022b). These have taken on an increasingly tit-for-tat nature, with casualties and reprisal attacks on both sides and increasingly organised and targeted violence aimed at discouraging permanent settlement or occupation of the area by pastoralist groups. These include an alleged reprisal attack by a group of Dinka Bor pastoralists in Abara village in early March 2022 and a subsequent raid on a Dinka Bor camp in Mugali Payam in May 2022, leading to further insecurity within Nimule town (Eye Radio 2022a). Following the arrival of a high-level security delegation in Nimule, a series of resolutions were adopted, including a commitment to remove cattle from Magwi (Eye Radio 2022b). Steps have since been taken on the part of some members of the Dinka Bor community to relocate cattle from Magwi.

ADMINISTRATION & LOGISTICS

Payams: Magwi (County Headquarters), Lobone, Mugali, Nimule, Pageri, Pajok
Additional payams listed by local actors: Iwire, Obbo

UN OCHA 2020 map of Magwi County: https://reliefweb.int/map/south-sudan/south-sudan-magwi-county-reference-map-march-2020

Roads:

• A primary road connects Nimule (on the Ugandan border, in the south-west of the county) with Juba to its north, with branching (secondary) roads connecting (across the river) to Kajo-Keji town (Kajo-Keji County) to its northwest and Magwi town to its northeast. The Juba-Nimule highway was passable in both the rainy season of 2022 and dry season of 2023, though the status of the branching roads is unknown.
• Magwi town also connects to Torit town via a secondary road, which was deemed passable in both the rainy season of 2022 and dry season of 2023.
• An additional secondary road connects Magwi town to the Juba-Nimule highway at Aru Junction in Juba County (Central Equatoria State), whilst another secondary road connects Magwi to the Ugandan border via Labone in the south-east of the county. A cluster of tertiary roads occupies southern parts of the county, in between the Juba-Nimule highway to the west and the Magwi-Labone road to the east. The status of each of these secondary and tertiary roads is unknown.
• A final secondary road (with tertiary bypass) runs east from Nimule to Uganda via Mugali . The condition of this road is unknown.

UNHAS-recognised Heli and Fixed-Wing Airplane Airstrips: Nimule

REFERENCES

Eye Radio. (2022a). Kiir to form committee to probe Magwi violence, summons Lobong and others. Retrieved 17 November 2023.

Eye Radio. (2022b). Host community resolves dispute with herders in Magwi. Retrieved 17 November 2023.

FAO/WFP. (2023). Special Report: FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Assessment Mission to South Sudan. Retrieved 31 July 2023. See equivalent versions of the CFSAM report online for data from previous years.

FEWSNET. (2018). Livelihoods Zone Map and Descriptions for the Republic of South Sudan (Updated). Retrieved 10 July 2023.

ICG, International Crisis Group. (2007). Northern Uganda: Seizing the Opportunity for Peace. Retrieved 17 November 2023.

ICG, International Crisis Group. (2016). South Sudan’s South: Conflict in the Equatorias. Retrieved 30 December 2023.

Madut-Arop, A. (2006). Sudan’s Painful Road to Peace: A Full Story of the Founding and Development of SPLM/SPLA. Booksurge Publishing.

Moro, L. (2015). ‘Displacement and Conflict in Magwi County’, in Schomerus, M. (eds.) Conflict and Cooperation in the Equatorias, pp.42-58. AECOM/USAID.

McCrone, F. and the Bridge Network. (2021). The War(s) in South Sudan: Local Dimensions of Conflict, Governance, and the Political Marketplace. Retrieved 14 July 2023.

Ochaya, M. (2021). ‘Local peace agreements and reduction of violence in South Sudan’, in Local Peace Processes, pp.15-21. London: The British Academy. Retrieved 17 November 2023.

OCHA. (2021). Humanitarian Needs Overview: South Sudan 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2023.

Peace Agreements Database. (n.d.). Final Report of the Inter Church Committee on Peace and Reconciliation Mission to Magwi County. Retrieved 17 November 2023.

Radio Tamazuj. (2015). Investigation into Pageri attack continues. Retrieved 17 November 2023.

Radio Tamazuj. (2021a). Truckers resume movement along Juba-Nimule highway. Retrieved 14 July 2023.

Radio Tamazuj. (2021b). E. Equatoria governor concerned about rising insecurity. Retrieved 17 November 2023.

Radio Tamazuj. (2022a). SSDPF deploys at border with Uganda as UPDF withdraws from Magwi County. Retrieved 17 November 2023.

Radio Tamazuj. (2022b). Magwi fighting: Governor Lobong says cattle raiders clashed with pastoralists. Retrieved 17 November 2023.

REACH. (2020). Integrated Needs Tracking (INT) County Profile – Magwi County. Retrieved 13 July 2023.

REACH. (2022). Integrated Needs Tracking (INT) County Profiles. Retrieved 13 July 2023.

Schomerus, M. (2008a). Violent Legacies: Insecurity in Sudan’s Central and Eastern Equatoria. Retrieved 17 November 2023.

Schomerus, M. (2008b). Perilous border: Sudanese communities affected by conflict on the Sudan-Uganda border. Conciliation Resources. Retrieved 17 November 2023.

Schomerus, M. and Allen, T. (2010). Southern Sudan at odds with itself: dynamics of conflict and predicaments of peace. Retrieved 17 November 2023.

Schouten, P., Matthysen, K. & Muller, T. (2021). Checkpoint economy: the political economy of checkpoints in South Sudan, ten years after independence. Retrieved 10 July 2023.

Simonse, S. 2000. Conflicts and Peace Initiative in East Bank Equatoria, South Sudan: 1992-1999 (draft). Pax Christi. Retrieved via Sudan Open Archive on 19 January 2024.

Shanmugaratnam, N. (2010). Resettlement, resource conflicts, livelihood revival and reintegration in South Sudan: A study of the processes and institutional issues at the local level in Magwi County. Norad/ Norwegian University of Life Sciences. Retrieved 20 July 2023.

Sudan Tribune. (2016). Gunmen increase roadside attacks in South Sudan. Retrieved 17 November 2023.

The Independent (Uganda). (2020). New details emerge on Uganda-South Sudan border clashes. Retrieved 17 November 2023.

UN Panel of Experts. (2016). Interim report of the Panel of Experts on South Sudan established pursuant to Security Council resolution 2206 (2015). Retrieved 17 November 2023.

UNSC. (2017). Report of the Secretary-General on South Sudan (covering the period from 2 March to 1 June 2017). Retrieved 17 November 2023.

UNSC. (2022). Situation in South Sudan: Report of the Secretary-General 9 June 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2023.

REPORTS on MAGWI

McCrone, F. and the Bridge Network. (2021). The War(s) in South Sudan: Local Dimensions of Conflict, Governance, and the Political Marketplace. Retrieved 14 July 2023.

O‘Byrne, R. (2015). Safety at the Margins: perceptions of justice and (in)security from South Sudan’s southern border. LSE/Justice and Security Research Programme. Retrieved 14 July 2023.

Quist, A. (2021). Human Security Survey 2021: Summary findings from Eastern Equatoria State, South Sudan. PAX. Retrieved 14 July 2023.

Quist, A. and Sleibi, A. (2022). Human Security Survey 2022: Summary findings from Eastern Equatoria State, South Sudan. PAX. Retrieved 14 July 2023.

REACH. (2023). “The body does not carry the name”: community perspectives on displacement, humanitarian categorisation, and durable solutions. Retrieved 17 November 2023.

Schomerus, M. (2012). “‘They forget what they came for’’: Uganda’s army in Sudan. Journal of Eastern African Studies, 6(1), 124-153. Retrieved 14 July 2023.

Schomerus, M. and Titeca, K. (2012). Deals and Dealings: Inconclusive Peace and Treacherous Trade along the South Sudan–Uganda Border. Africa Spectrum, 47(2-2), 5-31. Retrieved 14 July 2023.

Search for Common Ground. (2015). Magwi County Conflict and Leadership Mapping. Together We Can: Supporting Local Peace Efforts in Magwi County. Retrieved 14 July 2023.

Shanmugaratnam, N. (2010). Resettlement, Resource Conflicts, Livelihood Revival and Reintegration in South Sudan: A study of the processes and institutional issues at the local level in Magwi County. Retrieved 14 July 2023.

Small Arms Survey. (2010). Symptoms and causes Insecurity and underdevelopment in Eastern Equatoria. Retrieved 20 July 2023.

Storer, E., O’Byrne, R., and Reid, K. (2017). Poisoning at the periphery: Allocating responsibility across the Uganda/South Sudan borderlands. Third World Thematics, 2 (2-3), 180-196. Retrieved 14 July 2023.

Thomas, E. (2015). ‘Community development in Obbo, Magwi County, Eastern Equatoria’, in Schomerus, M. (eds.) Conflict and Cooperation in the Equatorias, pp.255-291. AECOM/USAID.

Twijnstra, R., Hilhorst, D., & Titeca, K. (2014). Trade networks and the practical norms of taxation at a border crossing between South Sudan and Northern Uganda. Journal of Eastern African Studies, 8(3), 382-399. Retrieved 14 July 2023.

Twijnstra, R., & Titeca, K. (2016). Everything changes to remain the same? State and tax reform in South Sudan. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 54(2), 263-292. Retrieved 14 July 2023.

* Note: The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Population Estimation Survey (PES) was published in April 2023 based on data collected in May-June 2021. This uses a different method to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Population Working Group (PWG) figures produced based on a combination of 2008 census data and population movement data up to 2022. The large discrepancies are primarily attributable to these different methods rather than changes in the actual population numbers over time and have been disputed by some civil society and analysts. Although the later PWG figures were produced more recently for the HNO 2023, at the request of the Government of South Sudan the data and method used by the PES is being used as the basis for the Common Operational Dataset (COD) for the UN system for the HNO 2024 and likely beyond. For further detail on this and other sources used in the county profiles, see the accompanying Methodological Note.

** Note: During the second civil war, ethnic distinctions between the Ma’di and Acholi communities did not neatly or consistently map onto political alignments with either the Sudanese government or SPLM/A, with pro-government militias being drawn from elements of both communities at certain stages of the conflict (Thomas 2015, p.266). Moreover, both groups have been affected by processes of militarisation and displacement linked to the conflict.

*** Note: The area of Ame(e) Junction is also contested by parts of the Lolubo and southern Bari communities of Central Equatoria State’s Juba County, who have advanced claims over the area.