Kaya is a city in

Central Equatoria Central Equatoria is a state in South Sudan. With an area of , it is the smallest of the original South Sudanese states. Its previous name was Bahr al-Jabal (also Bahr-el-Jebel), named after a tributary of the White Nile that flows through the ...

South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of th ...

Location

The city is located in Kimba Payam,

Morobo County Morobo County is a county in the Central Equatoria, South Sudan. Morobo County borders Uganda and Congo. The county is mainly occupied by Kakwa speaking people, Keliko and Lugbara. The people in Morobo are farmers doing local farming mostly f ...

, Central Equatoria State, in extreme southwestern South Sudan. It is located near the international border with the Republic of Uganda. Kaya is located approximately , by road, southeast of Yei the nearest large city. This location lies approximately , by road, south of

Juba Juba () is the capital and largest city of South Sudan. The city is situated on the White Nile and also serves as the capital of the Central Equatoria State. It is the world's newest capital city to be elevated as such, and had a population ...

, the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

of South Sudan and largest city in the country. Kaya sits directly across the border from Oraba, in Uganda.

History

Kaya was a battle scene during the

Second Sudanese Civil War The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated ...

and was conquered by the

Sudanese People's Liberation Army The South Sudan People's Defence Forces (SSPDF), formerly the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), is the army of the Republic of South Sudan. The SPLA was founded as a guerrilla movement against the government of Sudan in 1983 and was a ...

during Operation Thunderbolt on 10 March 1997.

Foreign help

On October 6th 2017,

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The ...

pledged to supply power to two South Sudanese border towns as part of the

Eastern Africa Power Pool The Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP), is a collaborative effort by eleven countries in Eastern Africa to interconnect their electricity grids and take advantage of excess capacity within the network and facilitate trade of electric power betwee ...

agreement. The agreement calls on all member states to connect electricity to each other. Uganda's energy minister

Simon D'Ujanga Simon Giw D'Ujanga is a Ugandan electrical engineer and politician. He is the current State Minister for Energy in the Ugandan Cabinet. He was appointed to that position on 1 June 2006. In the cabinet reshuffle of 16 February 2009, and that of ...

said "400 kilo-volts of power will be supplied to the towns of Kaya and

Nimule Nimule is a city in the southern part of South Sudan in Magwi County, Eastern Equatoria. It lies approximately , by road, southeast of Juba, the capital of South Sudan and largest city in the country. The town also lies approximately , by road, n ...

to boost socio-economic activities in the border areas".

Demographics

There are no reliable population estimates for the city because: * The Second Sudanese Civil War (1983–2005) forced many citizens to flee the city. Since the signing of the

Comprehensive Peace Agreement The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA, ar, اتفاقية السلام الشامل, Ittifāqiyyah al-salām al-šāmil), also known as the Naivasha Agreement, was an accord signed on January 9, 2005, by the Sudan People's Liberation Movem ...

in January 2005, a constant stream of South Sudanese returnees use the city as a transit point to re-enter the country * Kaya is a busy commercial center, attracting traders from South Sudan, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Economy

The city's infrastructure was badly damaged during the civil war. However, since the cessation of hostilities in 2005, commercial life is gradually returning to the city. The road between Kaya and Yei was repaired. It was financed by the

United Nations Human Settlements Programme The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the United Nations programme for human settlements and sustainable urban development. It was established in 1977 as an outcome of the first United Nations Conference on Human Settlem ...

and the World Food Program. With those repairs completed, the travel time between Kaya and Yei was reduced from five hours to one. The city is served by a branch of

Equity Bank South Sudan Limited Equity Bank South Sudan Limited (EBSSL) is a commercial bank in South Sudan. The bank provides banking services to individuals and to small and medium business enterprises. It is one of the commercial banks licensed to operate in the country by ...

Points of interest

The following points of interest are found in or near the city: * The offices of Kaya City Council * The administrative headquarters of Kaya Payam * Kaya Central Market * A

presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...

church, built in 2003 * The Kaya HIV/AIDS Health Center - built in 2010 with USAID funds, the center offers counselling testing and treatmentHIV/AIDS Resource Center Opened In December 2010
/ref> * The precise

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...

of the international borders of South Sudan, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo lies a few kilometres south of Kaya * * * * * * * * *

Tribes in Kaya

* Irava * Mujuru * Itori

Common languages spoken in Kaya

* English * Kiswahili * Juba Arabic * Kakwa * Lugbara * Pojulu * Kuku * Mundari * Lingala * Dinka * Nuer * Sulk * Zande * Abukaya * Lugand

References

External links

Gurtong Peace Project
with information about

{{coord, 3.5500, N, 30.8800, E, type:city, display=title Populated places in Yei River State South Sudan–Uganda border crossings