JUBA – Economic crisis is once again looming in the country after Kenyan Transporters Association issued a travel advisory to Kenyan drivers to cease transporting goods to South Sudan until security improves along Juba-Nimule road.
“We wish to advise all transporters not to risk the lives of their drivers by continuing to offer transport services to South Sudan as the country remains highly volatile. We, therefore, request all transporters to withdraw their services forthwith to South Sudan until such time security shall be guaranteed,” partly read the statement issued on Monday.
The association advised drivers already en route to South Sudan to stop at the Elegu border-crossing point. They also demanded the government of South Sudan to compensate lives and damages Kenyan drivers have encountered in the country.
“We further request the government of South Sudan to immediately take measures to protect our drivers and trucks already in South Sudan and also compensate the lives and properties lost,” it added.
The statement came after reports emerged of another attack on the busy Nimule road, where criminals killed motorists barely days after ambushing and murdering two Catholic nuns who were returning from a church trip in Loa last week.
However, yesterday the police promised to provide security to travelers along the major lifeline route following another tragic attack that left two drivers dead.
Police Spokesperson Maj. Gen. Justine Buolo stated in a press release on Monday that the attacks are carried out by “bandits” and “terrorists” hell-bent on disturbing the peace in the country.
The police revealed the government had already dispatched a team of security personnel to secure the vehicles and travelers along the Nimule route.
The statement read: ‘‘Engulfed with this persistent growing insecurity on Juba – Nimule Highway and other highways, the security organs are working hard to ensure that these intermittences of violent attacks aimed at cutting the people’s lifeline are addressed once and for all.”
“And as this press release is being released, the security organs from all its constituencies have just dispatched an assessment team headed by [the] South Sudan People’s Defense Forces, Tiger Division, South Sudan National Police Service, and National Security Service to assess and map out the major hotspots or launchpad these terror groups use to inflict pains on innocent lives.
‘‘Therefore, the people of South Sudan and the World at large should know that these ambushes are carried out by terrorists against the efforts of the government to avail permanent implementation of the Revitalized Peace Agreements’’.
Past attacks
On August 18, four travelers, including two nuns succumbed to a road attack that has become a norm over the past months with no one claiming the responsibility.
This has resulted in the trading of accusations between the government and the holdout groups of Gen. Thomas Cirilo, leader of the National Salvation Front (NAS).
In April, highway attacks forced the Ugandan truckers to down their tools as they demanded security along the road. This translated into skyrocketing prices of commodities in the market after shortage rocked Juba and other parts of the country.
“If this situation continues, it will have a lot of implications on South Sudan because the country is landlocked, which means we are not connected to a port outside. Most of our goods come from Mombasa and Tanzania port,” said the Chairperson of Freight Forwarder and Transporters Association, Emmanuel Kachuol.
The then SSPDF Chief of defense forces Gen. Johnson Juma Okot visited the Juba-Nimule road after the incident and announced the deployment of the SSPDF along the road to offer security.
“We have come here to deploy our forces from now onwards they will be here to make sure that the road is secured,” Gen. Okot said in a statement to the state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Cooperation (SSBC).
However, despite the assurances, the then SSPDF Acting Spokesperson Breg. Santo Domic told City Review that the military command started to deploy troops along Juba-Nimule, Kaya, and Yei road but the forces could not escort foreign drivers from their countries of origin into South Sudan. He said that was not the ‘mandate’ of the SSPDF.
“We are not escorting trucks from Uganda territory, that is not our mandate. But the escort that I am talking about is when the trucks are leaving our territory then we will escort them from Juba to the points of SSPDF until they reach the border,” Breg. Domic said.
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