Each year that comes, passes with tones of South Sudan’s woodlots vanishing into the oblivion through invisible hands of an untouchable mighty cartel.

After years of illegal logging, some of the plunderers clashed among themselves and unleashed key secrets, exposing a cartel within and outside South Sudan. Accomplices in the cartel include Ugandans, Congolese, South Sudanese citizens and others, across the seas.

Top on the list are high-ranking armed forces officers, senior government officials, business moguls, ex-rebel operatives and holdout armed groups. 

In Kajo-Keji County of Central Equatoria state, key leaders have also been named among forerunners, profiteering in the illicit logging business.

Aguet Trading Company managed by James Madual Thong, Santos Petroleum and Timber Company managed by Dominic Wani and Oscar Investment Company by Jimmy Nigo, are on the list.

Meanwhile, Mr. James Madual Thong, the Manager of Aguet Trading Company first denied involvement in the illegal logging business, the company has been in a chaotic logging saga, threatening Kajo-Keji county authorities’ ban on overlogging.

Aguet Company also hires South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) soldiers at 20,000 Ugandan Shillings, daily. But, instead of safeguarding the citizens, the personnel become source of insecurity in the county.

Madual also exposed Kajo-Keji County authority for taking 1,500 US dollars as a license fee for logs but said Nyepo Payam leaders later arrested his workers and power saw machines for illegal entry. The company was fined 35 million Ugandan Shillings. 

Documents of the vice indicate that government authorities from the Defunct Yei River State and current Central Equatoria state including the office of the Governor are involved.

The officials issued letters permitting the loggers to operate in Kajo-Keji in the name of auctioning logs felled during the war to feed forces but it turned out to be a permanent license.

The loggers claimed they have paid huge sums of money to the state, county and some local proclaimed land lords who extort bribes to extend logging operation on no valid grounds. The cartel used the loophole to continue depleting the woodlot.

Though Nyepo Payam leaders met out gone governor of Central Equatoria state, Emmanuel Adil Anthony and pleaded for him to intervene, he paid deaf ears to outcry of the community. Adamance of the leaders which sustained logging in the area, creates suspicion of connivence.

The loggers are highly protected by members of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF).

Col. John Kamilo, the former commander of the SSPDF in Kajo-Keji County, in charge of deployment of the forces is named a beneficiary in the logging saga. He deployed 29 soldiers to guard machine operators cutting down the trees. Whenever the community complains about the illegal logging, the soldiers threaten and intimidate them by branding them as National Salvation Front (NAS) rebels. 

The community claimed the commander complained that “the people of Nyepo are protecting trees while his forces are hungry.”

The Community memo identified Maj. General Lokujo, who defected from the SPLA-IO to the SSPDF and is currently stationed in Lakes State is one of those army officers involved in the illegal logging activities. 

The community claims while serving in the ranks of SPLM-IO, Maj. Gen. Lokujo owned a logging company called Production, which is still active and being protected by the general.

Other military personnel named in the logging cartel include Nelson Momo Abriga, and Moses Duku ‘Bungit. Maj. Lungar based in Liwolo, Capt. Gatluak based in Kerwa, 1st. Lt. Abraham based in Kansuk.

“These are soldiers both from SSPDF and SPLM-IO, who are directly facilitating the cutting and selling of logs” the community outlined the suspected players behind the illegal logging in Kajo-Keji. The list was presented to Adil but he threw it under the carpet. 

James Modi, the Paramount Chief of Nyepo Payam in Kajo-Keji county said the loggers are immune to orders. According to Modi, loggers infiltrated the area for illicit business in 2019 before the formation of the unity government.

“The traders entered Nyepo in 2018, Gen. Moses Lokujo was working there with his forces still under the SPLM/A-IO but in 2019 those people entered Mondi in Gaderu Boma where they felled down 460 logs” Modi explained.

He said they had agreed that the loggers pay a sum of 32 million Ugandan shillings and collect their logs without returning to cut more trees but unfortunately, they went on a rampage, clearing all matured Afezilia africana trees.

However, the cartel does not only carry out logging per se but also burns charcoal for commercial purposes. An Intel by a local chief at the areas of Liwolo, truckloads of charcoal and Logs are always escorted by military personnel via Mijale to Uganda’s Yumbe district.

A landlord in Liwolo who preferred anonymity for fear of reprisal says the army is profiteering from the business leaving out the community. He notes that his life is also in danger for always pointing out the issue.

“What pains me so much are the trees that are cut for charcoal. If you see the road going to Uganda, it’s in a bad state even though it is used to transport a lot of goods. Our people are worried about the illegal cutting of trees for logs and charcoal,” he observes.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown, illicit logs from South Sudan were impounded in Moyo district of Uganda but the RDC, an accomplice in the trade, set the booty free.

The release of the logs not only contradicts a letter written by Mr. Santino Tali Daniel, who was the Executive Director of Kangapo County of the defunct Yei River State, but it also exposed more accomplices in the trade.

Though Mr. Tali had directed the Ugandan authority to detain the logs, pending investigations the RDC, who was a beneficiary in the illicit deal, acted in a shrewd manner, to exacerbate the vice. 

Mr Tali, in his letter dated 30th April 2020, pointed at a company, he identified as AGWET LOGGING COMPANY, based in the Moyo district of Uganda being responsible for illegal plundering of trees in South Sudan.

He said the state authority had informed his office of ongoing illegal logging in the Moijo stream of Kangapo defunct County. The perpetrators opened a route from Limited via Moijo stream crossing to Uganda in Gbare for transportation of logs from Kajo-keji to Uganda.

“Our investigations found out that AGWET LOGGING COMPANY stationed in Moyo district is the perpetrator of this, inspite of warning and stoppage of their illegal logging activities inside South Sudan. They have transit logs from Limited to Uganda this week and the loading process is done inside Uganda, beyond our borders” Mr. Tali, seeking a helping hand from his counterpart, explains.

Contrary to the humbly gesture of Mr. Tali, his Moyo District colleague turned a traitor and issued a permission for security forces to offer protection for the one escaping arrest.

“Attn: Police/UPDF commandant. The bearer of this note, Mr. Joseph Mayan, a businessman. He has been granted permission to load his logs which were here on the Ugandan side. Please accord him the necessary assistance” the letters read.

The letter, dated 11th May 2020, bore the stamp and header of the office of Moyo Resident District Commissioner.

The letter from Moyo RDC was issued over 10 days after that of Kangapo’s defunct county Executive Director. 

In April 2024, Jacob Remijo a Member of Parliament representing Morobo County at the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) presented a motion on serious logging and charcoal burning in his area.

The receipts he presented, were issued point at Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO) and foreign companies led by Fuad Jaffari for profiteering in the lucrative business

Reacting to the concerns of the Community, Angelina Teny, the former Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs promised that the people of Kajo-Keji will see a difference once the unified forces are graduated.

“Army engaging in illegal activities has also a lot to do not only with war and peace but also the status of our economy in the country, you all know they receive very little salaries and you expect them to man our border so we as a state we also need to look after that, we have started but with a little bit of patience,” Angelina submitted.

Impacts of illegal logging 

As South Sudan grapples with economic turmoil, the national government loses millions of US dollars that would accrue from the export of forest and forest products. Capitalizing on the government’s laxity, leaving it to languish in poverty, individuals in the cartel enrich themselves from the plunder.  

Despite citizens in exile having an interest in returning home, the insecurity due to logging activities scares them, inflicting more fear. The ongoing logging by armed personnel, particularly in Liwolo is already insecurity of its own. 

In Kajo-Keji County, several families have fled Uganda, Lainya and Yei counties as a result of tension caused by clashes between the armed loggers and holdout groups. 

Over 1,000 people living in Litoba and surrounding areas have been displaced due to insecurity in lumbering areas.

By defying orders that state and national governments issued, the loggers are indirectly showing their prowess above the institution, therefore, they are either undermining or cohorts in the trade. 

Joseph Africano Bartel, the undersecretary in the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, blames the soldiers and insecurity for the ongoing logging activities that have led to deforestation in the country.

He says one of the impacts caused is the recent closure of schools due to the extreme heat but suggests other alternative measures, such as using fossil fuels to reduce tree cutting.

Rural communities adjacent to forests that had depended on it, now face challenges due to deforestation, forcing women to walk long distances in search of firewood for cooking. 

“Illegal harvesting of trees has reached a very alarming rate of 99.9%, for charcoal and field wood as a source of energy. So, everybody is now going to the forest to cut. Also, our soldiers have taken over the forests,” Bartel adds.

Garang Maguet, the director of Greening South Sudan, says he has planted over 600 trees but none of the trees are for timber because deforestation is taking place due to high demand for timber and charcoal.

According to Maguet, even fruit and medicinal trees are endangered. He fears that most of them are on the verge of extinction.  

“Trees like Tamarind and other indigenous species with medicinal values are being lost,” he recounts. 

“Other resources like natural honey from forests have reduced production. Because of deforestation, bees are not able to collect adequate pollen for making honey, which is the source of income for the people living adjacent to the Forest,” he added.

Due to logging activities, and alternation in the ecosystem, breeding cycles for animals are also interrupted hence leading to a low population of species. Loss of habitat for micro or macro-organisms further exposes some species to predators, especially endangered species like pangolin for the scales and meats. 

Once thick woodland with gigantic tropical trees that emitted a sweet, aromatic smell of nature, with the leaves swinging with a calming melody as the wind blew, are no more.

The timely rains that blessed a thriving farmland, and provided cool temperatures are giving way to chaotic weather with scanty produce as a result of cruel environmental predators. 

Despite the lack of exact information on the number of forests in the country, reports of 2009 figures from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, put an estimate of 191,667 square kilometres, under forests and woodlands, which amount to 29 per cent of the total land area.

A study conducted by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), in 2010, estimated that a high rate of up to 2,776 square kilometres of forests and other wooded land in the country were being lost annually.

Considering the eruption of subsequent conflicts after the report, since then, the gravity of the depletion has deepened.

Forests of Imotong mountains and ranges, the Dongotomea forests in Eastern Equatoria, stand the risk of plundering due to proximity to Uganda, which paves an ample opportunity for Illegal loggers to transport their booty, unabated. 

Forests in Kajo-Keji and Morobo Counties of Central Equatoria, share similar mischief with the presence of armed groups worsening the predicament.

Meanwhile, Lantoto National Park forests in Yei River County of Central Equatoria and forest reserves in Western Equatoria are not safe, as DR Congo and armed holdouts aid transit routes to Uganda and accomplices in trade.

About 13 Teak plantations in Western Bahr El Ghazal state, planted nearly a century ago are fast disappearing as timber companies take advantage of the country’s chaos to extract large amounts of wood.

These forests have deeply been depleted without the exception of other woodlands in the country, and bear the brunt of plundering, which threatens to alter the ecosystem.

Corruption, illegal firearms proliferation, political conflicts, economic crises and uncertainty of stability in the country, further exacerbate vices.

Washington-based research group C4ADS, which uses publicly available data to analyse illicit transnational networks, examined trade data to document the export of around 100,000 tons of South Sudanese teak from January 2018 to March 2019

Though the report revealed that South Sudanese teak goes to Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates, Kenya and China, the trend has not ended since the attractive tropical hardwood is highly sought-after by furniture makers.

In a 2011 study, PRINS Engineering discovered that the forests of Imotong Mountains, in Eastern Equatoria state, rising to 10,456 feet (3,187 meters) were part of the Eastern Afro-montane ecosystem, rated by scientists as one of Africa’s biodiversity hot spots.

These forests are classified as homes to many endemic and possibly unique species, which scientists have yet to study but should the trend continue, nothing will be left to find

This story was produced by a South Sudanese journalist who didn’t want to mention his name for security reasons in partnership with InfoNile and funding from the Earth Journalism Network (EJN)