Borders a Source of Conflicts in the Borderland Communities of the East African Region. A Case of South Sudan Border (Nimule)

Abstract

Rather than being seen as marginal, as the edges of state control where political, economic and even social systems become diluted and lose coherence, borderlands should be understood as distinctive systems where power, economy and social relations are configured around the border as a central organising principle. This is matched in the research world by methodological nationalism, collection and analysis of data through national prisms rather than regional or borderland prisms. The result is a failure to understand the dynamism, resilience and vulnerability that are features of borderlands. Therefore, this propose study seeks to bring borderlands into the centre of analytic frame by specifically focusing on Nimule Border in South Sudan as a case. This study aims at understanding Borders a Source of Conflicts in the Borderland Communities of the East African Region by looking at South Sudan Border (Nimule) as a case. The study was carried out in three Bomas of Mugali, Jelli and Pageri located in Nimule Border area, South Sudan. Nimule is a border town next to Elegu border in Uganda. A total of 56 research participants were involved in seven (7) FGDs. All the data were audio taped and transcribed verbatim before analysis. The study analysed the role of border a source of conflicts in the borderland communities in Nimule borderland, South Sudan . Data were analysed using latent content analysis, through identifying codes where basis categories were obtained and grouped.