Fuel crisis turns Moyo, Kajo Keji into ghost towns
At the dusty Leikor shopping centre in Kajo Keji County, Mulle Julius, a fuel dealer, has on display rows of petrol fuel in water and milk bottles of varying capacities.
Above the neatly arranged rows of fuel, a now-faded umbrella given out by a telecom company provides the much-needed shelter. A few metres away, motorcycle taxi operators, otherwise known as boda boda are waiting for customers in their usual sequence.
Once you get a customer, you become the last in the queue. This way, the customers are distributed among the operators in such a manner that everyone goes home with some income at the close of business.
This was not the case a few months back. The residents here, including motorists on transit, would get the much-needed fuel from the three gas stations within the area.
But these gas stations have since dried up following a riot that broke out in the areas of Koboko where a Ugandan Revenue Authority (URA) officer was killed, resulting in the closure of all the fuel transportation points from Uganda to Kaya and Kajo Keji.
“We now use motorcycles to transport fuel from Moyo and Yumbe districts of Uganda to Kajo Keji using jerrycans.” A litre in Uganda costs 6400 Uganda shillings (UGX) and a 20-litre jerrycan at 150,000 UGX an equivalent of SSP22,000 and a litre sold at SSP700.
But sometimes when they discover that we are from South Sudan, they arbitrarily increase the prices,” says Mulle.
Kajo Keji, being nearer to the border area with Uganda, trades a lot with Moyo than Juba because of the relatively long distance to the latter, coupled with a poor road network.
Poni Scovia James, a trader in Mere town, has complained that taxes on both sides are high hence the increase in prices.
“We bring goods mostly from Uganda and if we increase the prices of the goods the customers complain, we also get goods from Juba, but the road is not good and the charges are higher compared to buying from Uganda” she added.
Poni noted that her goods are always brought on a motorcycle from Moyo and because of the fuel prices, the charges are increased.
“I want to tell the government of South Sudan to talk to their Ugandan counterparts to solve the fuel issue and reduce the taxes levied” she exclaimed.
The chairperson of Moyo District, Anyama Wiliam, has promised to fix the issue of fuel that has jeopardised business between the two areas of Kajo Keji in South Sudan, and Moyo in Uganda for the past three months.
He said in a telephone interview that they sat down with the Kajo Keji leaders to iron out the issues and that he had briefed his bosses on what is happening.
“I had a meeting with the business and local authorities of the greater Kajo Keji regarding issues of fuel. I have forwarded the complaints to the region and national levels. However, the responsible agencies have not responded in yet” he said.
Anyama argues that being that South Sudan is part of the East Africa Community (EAC), the traders should not be restricted from and to Uganda.
“We are one people, and being separated by the colonial boundaries and that doesn’t mean the absence of conflict, conflicts always arise but there should be an ability to resolve those conflicts aptly,” he said.
According to Inyani Moses Franco, the chairperson chamber of commerce Kajo Keji, they have had several meetings with the Ugandan counterparts, but the meetings were yet to yield fruits.
“A week ago we had an emergency meeting with the Uganda authorities as delegates from South Sudan, Kajo Keji, and we were told to submit the names of three possible companies to bring fuel, and to date, we are still waiting for the feedback,” he said.
Currently, the cost of fuelling at fuel stations has shot up exponentially in recent weeks due to several factors. Crude, which is used to produce petrol and diesel, traded at just under $120 per barrel in June, a jump that equalled this year’s March peaks when Russia had just invaded Ukraine.
South Sudan, oil-rich, is among the countries that struggle with the spike in the prices of fuel, trading petrol at SSP800 SSP and diesel at SSP750 per litre.
Last year, the government approved 20,000 barrels of crude oil proceeds for the construction of the Juba Kajo-Keji road without giving clear timelines. Still, the National Minister of Roads and Bridges, Simon Mijok Mijak said the finalization of contract drafting was in progress to pave the way for the start of work, which has not materialised to date.
The Juba- Kajo Keji road if constructed, has the potential of connecting South Sudan to Uganda via Moyo hence boosting movement and economy.