S. Sudanese roads among most expensive for transport

Traders, contractors and non-governmental organisations operating in South Sudan have to part with a huge amount of money levied on the countless roadblocks spread out countrywide.

According to a research study by the International Peace Information Service and Danish Institute for International Studies, government controls the majority of roadblocks while SPLM/A-IO controls a third of the checkpoints along the River Nile.

The research reveals that that transportation in South Sudan is among the most expensive ventures in the world and that it is only rivalled by Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This cost shoots up thanks to roadblock levies.

It indicates that based on the averages, a typical checkpoint in the country is manned by six people who charge an average of SSP 48,000 (USD 100). However, as vehicles typically travel long distances, total checkpoint taxes for a trip can be enormous.

“Barges typically shuttle between Bor and Renk carrying humanitarian aid or foodstuff, and for the entire return journey each barge will pay about $211 at each of the 33 checkpoints, totalling a stunning USD 10,000 for a round trip,” it partly states.

The report states that checkpoints on the road between Juba and Bentiu on average charge a truck about $21 but the total journey involve passing through 80 checkpoints. This translates into an enormous amount of money incurred on a return journey: about USD 3,000 in checkpoint taxes. 

Harsh implications

The report reveals the implication of humanitarian organisations in the checkpoint economy saying that humanitarian logistics makes up a big part of the transport sector in South Sudan, with aid agencies outsourcing food deliveries and other bulk transport to national or regional trucking companies.

“We found that these subcontractors are systematically taxed at 157 per cent or 49 per cent of all South Sudanese checkpoints. This means that scarce aid money is appropriated by South Sudan’s soldiers and rebels, ending up in the pockets of military elites,’’ the report argues.

However, on September 9, 2021, the South Sudan customs service ordered the removal of all illegal checkpoints along the Nimule-Juba road and Bahr el Ghazal highway after a two weeks protest by the East African truck drivers.

The truck drivers delivering goods through the Nimule border stopped supplying goods to the country over what they called multiple taxes and harassment of drivers along the way.

The foreign truck drivers resumed their activities after reaching an informal agreement with the government.

The two organisations revealed in the study that they managed to map checkpoints in the country.

“Over the past two years, we have mapped 319 checkpoints along major trade routes in South Sudan, of which 253 (79%) are roadblocks and 66 (21%) river checkpoints.”

“Government soldiers and civil authorities control most of the checkpoints along overland routes, while the SPLM/A in opposition led by Dr Riek Machar, controls slightly more than half of the checkpoints along river routes: The White Nile, its branch the El Zeraf, and the Sobat,” the document reads.