Transit Truck drivers Cease Operation Due to Recent Colleague Murder on August 12, 2016 in Nimule Boarder.
Hundreds of trucks parked at border (Uganda-South Sudan Border) due to safety concerns. The strike has effectively halted all movement along one of East Africa’s most important trade routes and raised concern from transporters that the Nimule-Juba highway is now LESS safe than it was before.
South Sudan has become extremely violent for both drivers (armed robbery, violent assault and ambush) and for those who may need to drive that route to deliver shipments.
“There is absolutely no assurance of safety when transiting into or through South Sudan,” Busuulwa said in an interview on Monday. “There are frequent gunpoint robberies of drivers, and also the loading of cargo onto a vehicle can also result in being attacked by gunmen as well as your vehicle being stolen — in fact, last month we lost a driver to this type of violence.”
Our transporters are calling on the government to REINSTATE joint Uganda-South Sudan highway security patrols which previously provided some level of security while traveling on this very dangerous route.
Busuulwa noted that recent political realignment has been detrimental to the partnerships created by previous bilateral agreements had helped to keep corridor stable; he believes that these agreements would be essential in restoring safety but that the recent cross-border political disconnects would prevent effective bilateral enforcement of any new agreements therefore those drivers that continue to transit back into South Sudan should clearly be forewarned of the increasing danger.
Local media continue to report that several hundred trucks remain at a complete standstill on both the Ugandan and South Sudanese sides of the border since the government shut down this important east African trade corridor.
