By Jurugo Emmanuel Ogasto
The recent reshuffling at the top leadership of the army has slowed down the process of beefing up security in Juba-Yei road.
Yei Police Commissioner Yoasa Lujang Kamba told The City Review that the South Sudan People Defence Forces (SSPDF) were yet to start escorting vehicles along the Yei-Juba highway because of the recent changes that President Salva Kiir made in the leadership.
“The delay is due to some changes in the command of the army. As you know recently the chief of general staff was removed, the chief of staff had given an order for deploying the army on the roads so that the vehicle can move,” he said.
President Kiir recently replaced Gen Johnson Juma Okot with Gen Santino Deng Wol as the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF).
Complaints
Mr Kamba was responding to an incident where Yei called on the government to quickly provide security officers on Yei-Juba road to prevent road ambushes.
Their outcry came after the government deployed security forces were deployed along Nimule-Juba road to secure the road and help truckers deliver the products to Juba.
A stand-off ensued at Elegu near Nimule border after hundreds of truck drivers downed their tools in protest over the rampant killings of their colleagues.
Atleast 10 people were killed in in three separate ambushes along Juba- Yei road which brought fear among traders and travellers last month. Other deadly attacks took place along Juba-Nimule road, which triggered protests and shortage of products in the capital.
Speaking to City Review on phone, one of the traders who brings goods from Uganda to Juba and Yei, Kiden Mary Samuel, urged the government not to delay in beefing up security. Mary said lost her husband during the current civil war in South Sudan and is solely depending on her business to make ends meet.
“I am asking our government to provide for us security so that we can also come to Juba and take goods from Juba to Yei. At the moment people from Yei are suffering, we have no food and hunger is too much. They should provide us with permanent peace so that civilians will move freely,” she said.