A lawmaker in the national parliament has said the dominance of the market by foreign nationals poses a great threat to the economy of the country.

According to Paul Yoane Bonju, the designated Chairperson for Information in the Reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly (RTNLA), Ethiopians and Eritreans manage wholesale businesses, hotels, and water supply, while Kenyans manage the banking system.

He made the statement on Wednesday after the adjournment of a debate by members of parliament.

Yoane reiterated that the South Sudanese have been left with virtually nothing, as he warned that unless the country begins to produce, the foreign market will continue to exist.

“If you look at the food industry, 95 per cent of our food is imported from Uganda. If you see the Eritreans and Ethiopians, they have taken the water industry and the hotels. If you go to the Kenyans, they have taken over the banking system,” Bonju explained.

The National Assembly has resolved to summon the Minister of Trade and Industry, the Governor of the Central Bank, the Chairperson of the National Bureau of Standards, and the Chairperson of the Chamber of Commerce to appear before it within a week for an update after MP Paul Baba Ezibon presented a motion on the alarming prices in the local market.

Yoane said he was discouraged by the situation in the country that he said could produce food for itself.

However, he expressed optimism for the improvement of the situation in the country.

“It is a threat to the South Sudanese, who are an independent and sovereign country that has been spoon-fed.

 “You see, the food we eat is substandard. It is not original food,” he said.

“Until we get up on our feed and cultivate, I don’t think we can be ourselves proudly as the people of this country,” Yoane stated.