Floods ease on Uganda-South Sudan trade route

November 20, 2013 (KAMPALA) – Traffic on the Gulu-Nimule road which connects Uganda to South Sudan has normalised after floods disrupted movement on the vital route which is key for cross-border trade.

Two weeks ago, more than 500 vehicles were left stranded after heavy rains caused the nearby river Unyama to break its banks, blocking the road and flooding the bustling border market of Olegu.

“Vehicles are now moving freely. The flooded road has now been covered with murram (gravel) and drainages created. The place is now dry”, said Martin Okoba, a local leader in Olegeu.

Okoba who spoke to Sudan Tribune by phone said with the rainy season in northern Uganda coming to an end, there were no more fears of heavy rains.

“We are now moving towards the dry season. Floods are no longer our problem. The problem is now dust”, said Okoba.

Last week, the head of customs in Nimule, Emmanuel Guya Simon, said the disruption in traffic from Uganda to South Sudan and vice versa had caused massive losses in revenue to the young nation.

“It is really a very big blow. This month of November, we shall have very minimum collection of revenue and this shall affect us as a government in terms of revenue [collection]”, said Guya at a press conference in Juba.

At the same press conference, the undersecretary of commerce and trade in South Sudan’s ministry of finance, Simon Nyang Anei, said he had visited the area to assess the situation.

Customs officials said when the road was blocked less than 10 trucks per day were able to enter South Sudan through Nimule, compared to more than 200 when traffic is normal.

South Sudan relies largely on imports for its food, fuels and building material. Officials estimate that 80% of all imports to South Sudan pass through Nimule, the only paved road connecting Uganda to Juba.

The South Sudan section of the road is tarmacked but the Ugandan side is still in a poor state. In August, Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, commissioned the tarmacking of the 36km road from Attiak to Nimule. The rest of the road from Uganda is also being upgraded at a cost of $100 million, with funding from the World Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Uganda’s Bureau of Statistics and the Bank of Uganda estimate that trade between Uganda and Sudan grew by 1000% in the period from 2005 to 2008. During this time, trade revenue between the two countries rose from $60 to $635 million, according to the World Bank.

(ST)