South Sudan Vice President Taban Deng Gai has renewed tensions over the disputed Ilemi Triangle 14,000 square kilometre territory, warning Kenya over its possession.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

While speaking during a Cabinet meeting  in Juba on August 29, he could not hide his dissatisfaction with Kenya, stating that he was not happy with the map, openly rejecting the version of East Africa's boundaries that was presented before him, insisting it wrongly excluded key South Sudanese territory.

According to him, the map failed to show important areas, including what he described as the ‘two horns of the bull’, referring to specific northern regions.

“That section, it is the land of South Sudan. Now the Kenyans are almost agreeing on taking Ilemi,” VP Taban stated.

📌 What You Need to Know

He also pointed out that other locations, which he identified as Kafia Kingi and Horfart an Hasa , both South Sudan territories, now claimed by Kenya, are now missing from the map altogether.

“The two horns of the bull, one in the eastern area of the Western Bahr el Ghazal  should not be there. Horfart an Hasa and Kafia Kingi of our territory have also been cut out by the Kenyan Government,” VP Taban stated.

For Deng Gai, this was not just a cartographic error but a deliberate distortion that needed to be corrected immediately and publicly.

The Vice President then turned his attention to the Ilemi Triangle, a long-contested stretch of land claimed by Kenya, South Sudan, and Ethiopia.

He argued that the area should never be treated as settled territory, but instead remain officially recognised as a subject of ongoing discussion between the two nations.

Deng Gai recalled a moment from Kenya's political history, referencing the late President Daniel arap Moi's decision to deliberately alter Kenya's map to include the Ilemi Triangle because, at the time, South Sudan, still part of the greater Sudan, was in war; thus, Deng Gai insisted that one cannot take control of another country’s territory just because they are in war.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke