Nairobi protests for harassment of Kenyans in South Sudan
April 11, 2007 (NAIROBI) — Kenyan authorities have protested over the harassment of its citizens in Southern Sudan, the The Nation reported on Wednesday.
In an April 8 letter to the Government of Southern Sudan, the Kenyan embassy in Khartoum said truck drivers, businessmen and women were facing persistent harassment, intimidation, beatings and arbitrary detention by Southern Sudan agents.
“The embassy expressed great concern at the allegations, some of which have been confirmed, and called on the Government of Southern Sudan to rein in overzealous security officials and soldiers,” a statement signed by embassy official Lindsay Kiptiness, said.
Reports indicate that soldiers manning roadblocks force truck drivers to carry unauthorised passengers or soldiers and in case a driver declines or there is an accident, the driver is fined a huge amount of money. Those who don’t comply risk being sentenced to death. Other agents have been accused of extortion.
Reports indicate that one woman was whipped 60 times when she went to report the theft of her mobile phone in Rumbek.
Yesterday, 130 Kenyans announced that they were stranded in Rumbek where they have been building the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement/Army offices in Malou area.
In an e-mail to the Nation, they said they were working for a company whose two Kenyan workers were being held on murder allegations. The Trax Construction Company employees said their firm, which recruits its staff from Nairobi, is registered in Southern Sudan.
Saying they had not been paid their salaries since January, the workers added they were currently on an 11-day strike.
They accused their employer of being unwilling to return those whose contracts had expired back to Kenya.
According to the e-mail, the workers have been living in poor accommodation since January. They also lacked proper medical insurance covers “forcing us to use Sudanese herbs for medication.”
“Our work and stay permits have expired making it hard for us to move around outside the millitary barracks,” they added.
(Nation)
Nakuwa Jnr
Nairobi protests for harassment of Kenyans in South Sudan
My Opinion
What’s happening to Kenya nationals (and perhaps many other nationals) in South Sudan is very unfortunate but it’s definitely not a surprise to me. I relate these occurrences to a number of factors.
First and foremost, the mandate of having armed military personnel manning road blocks both in Kenya and South Sudan is always wrong, let alone the existence of some roadblocks that the two respective governments may not have an idea of? Trained Custom officers/personnel should be installed in such places to monitor who goes in and who goes out of South Sudan.
Secondly, South Sudan at this point in time is the place to be, especially for those wanting quick money and coupling that with the fact South Sudan does not have well established immigration controls and systems in place, human beings are there to exploit such faults. The former rebel soldiers should be retrained as professional soldiers and be told their functions.
Thirdly, and most unfortunately, some of these reported attacks or allegations of maltreatment of Kenyans in South Sudan are simply retaliatory – it shouldn’t be allowed to happen. Like most South Sudanese who might have lived in Kenya, am very grateful for the generous hospitality that the Kenyan Government and people offered during the tough years in South Sudan. However, as life was tough for South Sudanese inside South Sudan, life was even tougher for some South Sudanese in Kenya, whether they were there legally or illegally. I remember having a very difficult journey by road from Nairobi to Lokichogio – a journey characterised by unnecessary searching, harassment, beating and detention of South Sudanese nationals by the so-called Kenyan police stationed at those roadblocks and demand money from these impoverished travellers. I remember a pregnant Sudanese women pulled out of a minibus (at road block in between Kakuma Loki) and told to ‘cooperate’ by bribing the police but probably due to here own principles on the vice, she decided not to cooperate with the officers. The cost, she was left sitting in the baking sun of Turkana district while the driver was ordered to drive on.
I hope the citizens of the two countries will forget the past and focus of on the future, although the two are quite intertwined. The two countries need each other more than ever before.
Nakuwa Jnr