Residents of Twic Mayardit have taken to the streets in a peaceful protest against the disputed National Elections Commission (NEC) constituency mapping, as the Joint Leadership of the Twic Community issued a formal demarche to the Warrap State Government over what it describes as continued encroachment and growing security concerns in the Southern Kiir River buffer zone.
The protest follows the community leadership’s rejection of an electoral mapping that it says could place areas belonging to Twic County under constituencies of the Abyei Administrative Area.
According to the Joint Leadership, the proposed arrangement amounts to an administrative and electoral encroachment on Twic County. The community insists that Twic County’s existing Constitutional Constituencies 1 to 5 must remain intact and that no part of its territory should be reassigned to Abyei through electoral mapping.
The leadership has therefore demanded the immediate freezing and correction of the disputed NEC mapping.
The petition, dated August 10, 2026, also raises wider concerns over activities within the Southern Kiir River buffer zone, which the leadership says are in violation of the 2024 Presidential Executive Order and Resolution No. 11 of the Twic-Ngok Peace Agreement.
According to the petition, the existing arrangements prohibit both Twic County and the Abyei Administrative Area from exercising civil administration, taxation or other forms of governmental authority within the buffer zone, which is expected to remain under a neutral SSPDF security administration.
However, the Twic leadership alleges that the Abyei Administrative Area has continued to carry out civil and administrative activities in the area.
Among the concerns cited are the commissioning and operation of the Rumamer Primary Health Care Centre, the management of the Aneet (Agok) Airstrip, and the alleged collection of revenues at the Aneet Central Market and livestock auction points.
The leadership argues that these activities amount to the exercise of civil authority within an area that should remain under neutral security administration.
The petition also raises concerns over the alleged presence and operational involvement of armed Ngok youth, locally known as Titbaai, in the Southern Kiir River and Aneet areas.
The community says the presence of armed youth contradicts existing security and demilitarization arrangements and risks further destabilising an already fragile situation.
The Joint Leadership has also questioned the neutrality of the SSPDF Buffer Zone Command, accusing it of failing to prevent activities it considers violations of the existing arrangements.
It has called for intervention by the SSPDF General Headquarters to ensure that the force maintains strict neutrality and does not permit either side to establish civil authority within the buffer zone.
Among the community’s key demands are the immediate establishment of the Ajak-Kuac constituency area, strict enforcement of the 2024 Presidential Executive Order, the removal of civil administration from the Southern Kiir River buffer zone, and the restoration of strict neutrality within the SSPDF deployment.
The leadership is further demanding the withdrawal of armed Titbaai youth from the Southern Kiir River and Aneet areas, the removal of armed militia or partisan elements allegedly operating within the buffer zone, and the decommissioning or transfer of the Rumamer Primary Health Care Centre to the SSPDF Medical Corps.
It has also called for the suspension of civil and commercial activities at the Aneet (Agok) Airstrip under the management of the Abyei Administrative Area until the matter is addressed at the national level.
As residents continue their peaceful protest against the NEC mapping, the Joint Leadership of the Twic Community is calling on the Warrap State Government to take the matter to the national authorities and the NEC, warning that continued inaction could deepen tensions and further threaten stability in the Southern Kiir River and Aneet areas.
