Threat to Juba businesses prompts meeting between South Sudan, Kenya

March 1, 2009 (NAIROBI) — Complaints from Kenyan petrol traders in Juba prompted the Kenyan Foreign Affairs Minister to summon a South Sudanese diplomat to appear at an emergency meeting Friday. A furor in South Sudan’s parliament had resulted in orders to move the stations due to their location near residential areas.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Moses Wetangula summoned the Head of Mission of the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) John Andruga Duku, according to a statement by Jervasio Okot, the spokesperson for the GOSS liaison office in Kenya.

Also attending the meeting were some of the petrol station owners: Chairman of Arid Regions Integrated Development Agency, Issak Sheikh Gabow; and two representatives of Bross Petrol, Ibrahim IK Mohammed and Bashir Malaw.

Bross Petrol, City Gas Petrol Ltd, T.T Petrol Station Juba and Tiba Oil Co Ltd. have all complained that their business premises in Juba could be demolished.

On their behalf, the Kenyan minister requested that GOSS provide ample time for the stations to relocate, allocate new sites to the dealers and compensate for losses incurred.

“Minister for Foreign Affairs explained that Kenya and South Sudan enjoy cooperation agreement in many areas of mutual interests and are sisterly countries. He said one of which is where Southern Sudanese students pay local fees in all Kenyan institutions of higher learning,” said the GOSS statement.

One of the traders said he invested 15 million shillings in four petrol stations. He said it will be a disaster because the money was a loan from a Kenyan bank which he is paying.

The GOSS representative, who just arrived from Juba and came straight to this meeting, explained that the regional parliament wanted to impeach certain ministers for negligent allocations of business land, resolving to relocate the petrol stations for posing danger to the inhabitants of the.

Ambassador Duku reminded that county commissioners have no jurisdiction to issue licences to business people. He told the minister that marks were put on the petrol stations in October 2008 as a signal for relocation but the oil traders did not heed to this warning. He said despite of this warning, one petrol station in Juba was still filling fuel which was due to be demolished on January 2009. The demolition was extended to February 26 and yet another fuel tank was filled.

Moreover, he said the demolition exercise was not only targeting Kenyans, but affected all business owners including Sudanese. He said the concern from the Kenyan government will be communicated back to Juba.

Businessman Gabow said that Kenyans in Juba follow the law for entrenchment of businesses. He said they were able to get approval from the land commission, local government, commissioners of the town, legal affairs and ministry for commerce and trade. He said there was no single step left during this venture, showing some documents to justify his claim.

Another controversy over a petrol station had arisen in Nimule as well, where allegedly SPLA Major General Wilson sold a piece of land belonging to some Madi to a Somali business to erect a petrol station. The move resulted in violence.

(ST)