Impounded Ugandan exports trucks in S.Sudan spark fresh concerns about government involvement

It has been nearly two months of fruitless negotiation between the Ugandan and the South Sudan authorities over the release of 74 trucks impounded at Nimule Township. The trucks loaded with wheat, maize grains, millet grains, and maize flour were impounded on May 15 by the South Sudan National Bureau of Standards (SSNBS) for alleged contamination with aflatoxin.

In a fresh protest of this move, the aggrieved drivers early this week pitched camp at BLD parking in Elegu Town Council and refused to cross into the South Sudan territory accusing the South Sudan government agencies of persistent harassment.

In an interview yesterday, the Vice Chairperson of the Ugandan Trucker Drivers, Isaac Katabazi told Uganda Radio Network that, after weeks of failed efforts to engage the authorities, they won’t cross into South Sudan with merchandizes until their colleagues are released.

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Early June the State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Henry Okello Oryem was quoted in the media saying that the South Sudan authorities had released all the trucks impounded in Nimule. However, Katabazi refuted the claim saying none of the trucks have left South Sudan custody.

Margaret Auma, the Chairperson of Elegu Women Cross Border Cooperative Society says the current standoff is detrimental to the bilateral relationship between the two states. She called upon the South Sudan government to be transparent by releasing evidence of the contamination of the goods seized from the Ugandan traders to solve the crisis.

“If it’s true that the products are substandard, let them confiscate the products and release the trucks to the owners to continue making money. I don’t advise that substandard products go into the market,” Auma said.

The Amuru Resident District Commissioner, Stephen Odong Latek said that the South Sudan authorities had taken the samples from the grains and flour for testing at a Laboratory in Nairobi Kenya but wondered why the results have taken long.

“They believe they will complete the test and either give the go-ahead for the trucks to proceed or release them. But the test result is taking longer than necessary and we want to get back to them and ask them to take necessary actions quickly.”

In the meantime, he said the government should be given a chance to handle the matter at a diplomatic level. But so far efforts by First Deputy Prime Minister Rebecca Kadaga to intervene on the matter last month have failed.