Traders warned over colluding to hike prices
The Central Equatoria State Chamber of Commerce has threatened to withdraw operation licences from traders it accuses of cheating and raising prices without genuine reasons.
The Chairperson of the State Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture, Robert Pitia Francis, said some wholesalers have resorted to repackaging expired commodities with the aim of reducing the actual weight of the goods they sell to retailers.
“We want to get to them [traders] the message that what they are doing is illegal and if they are caught, their licenses will be revoked and if they continue we will write to the authority to expel the person because they are creating for our problem,” said Mr. Pitia.
Mr. Pitia said such practices impact people’s health and ability to provide adequate regular food to their family members because they struggle to afford expired foods expensively.
“It is wrong and we cannot accept cheating on our citizens. What we want is for this thing to stop, so that traders should not take advantage of our local consumers because they are ignorant of their rights, “he added.
He said the state chamber of commerce was investigating to close in on the perpetrators of the vices so that their identities would be revealed to the government to take necessary action against them.
South Sudan, a landlocked country with no trade balance both regionally and internationally due to a lack of exports, relies entirely on imported goods such as sugar, wheat flour, and beans.
Since becoming part of the East African Community, South Sudan has been complaining about multiple taxes impacting market prices. The bloc aims to achieve political, social, economic, and cultural integration among the seven-member states.
In a meeting with the Members of Parliament representing South Sudan to the East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA), on Wednesday, the traders said the bloc was doing no good to business people in the country.
The traders blamed the skyrocketing prices of commodities in the country on the multiple taxes levied by their brothers within the bloc, whom they said disregarded common union protocol.
So, if East African Community member states have a unity that we should work together, those things should be abolished so that goods become cheaper in South Sudan,” said Mr. Ladu Lukak, Acting Chairperson of the National Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture.
