Key findings

Louis Lobong Lojore, the governor of Eastern Equatoria, has entrenched his control of the state by building an elite coalition across ethnic lines and disbursing revenues related to the state’s gold-mining sector. Among the communities of Eastern Equatoria, however, Lobong’s popularity is limited, even among his own ethnic group, the Toposa.
In 2024, Lobong recruited 1,400 police officers in violation of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS).
Discontent with Lobong is so deeply rooted that in April 2024, the Toposa facilitated a Murle raid on Lobong’s herds that took 16,000–24,000 head of cattle.
Recent Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) encroachments into Eastern Equatoria are designed to displace South Sudanese civilians and gain control of agricultural land. While these advances have caused local unrest, Salva Kiir, the South Sudanese president, has been silent on the matter, and the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) has backed Ugandan incursions elsewhere in the country.