Living with Lobong: Power, Gold, and the UPDF in Eastern Equatoria
Louis Lobong Lojore has been the governor of Eastern Equatoria since 2010. He 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. Yet, Lobong’s reign in Eastern Equatoria is built on shaky foundations. His support is largely constituted by elites who have profited from his time in office, while the people of Eastern Equatoria are struggling to defend their lands from encroachments by Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) and Dinka cattle guards from Jonglei.
Living with Lobong: Power, Gold, and the UPDF in Eastern Equatoria—a new Situation Update from the Small Arms Survey’s Human Security Baseline Assessment for Sudan and South Sudan (HSBA)—examines Lobong’s grasp on the state; how his exploitation of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) plays into his strategies, and how a lack of political opposition has forced local communities to seemingly be the sole protest against Lobong’s domination.
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This Situation Update was funded by a grant from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The opinions, findings, and conclusions stated herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
