By Philip Buda Ladu
Central Equatoria State Chamber of Commerce has appealed to the displaced Sudanese traders to reopen their shops and restaurants assuring them of security protection and safety for them and their properties.
Video footages showing the gruesome killing of South Sudanese nationals in Wad Madani of Sudan’s Gezira State by the Sudan Armed Forces the previous week triggered a deadly Anti-Sudanese protest in Juba Thursday which quickly spread to other state towns.
What started as a peaceful protest turned chaotic when angry youth took the law into their own hands attacking Sudanese and looting their shops and properties, as a result, the government quickly deployed additional security forces that arrested the situation firing into the air to disperse the mob and arrested some rioters including members of the organized forces.
Since Friday morning the police and army said they have rescued over 1,000 Sudanese nationals in the city and now sheltering them at their headquarters and police stations around Juba, providing them safety.
Following the unrest which broke out on Thursday night, businesses were paralyzed as most shops in Juba City Council especially those owned by Sudanese traders remain closed till yesterday, with a handful of them opening in Munuki and Gudele One.
The situation which has created a commodities crisis prompted the Central Equatoria State Chamber Commerce to inspect all the markets in the city and ensure security is guaranteed for the traders to return to their shops and operate normally to serve the economically hit population of Juba.
After touring most of the markets in Juba city Council, the CES Chamber of Commerce delegation headed by the chair including the quarter council chairperson visited the displaced Sudanese traders sheltering at the Buluk Police Headquarters and assured them that the situation has been contained with security on guard.
Robert Pitia, the Chairperson of Central Equatoria State Chamber of Commerce urged the traders to go and open their shops saying their security deployment is in place to provide their safety and secure the goods.
“Today we had a tour of all the markets to assess the situation because each market is affected. We went and found most of the markets are open, and some Sudanese have opened their shops, and others did not,” Pitia told the media.
He stated that some of Sudanese traders they got in Buluk police Headquarters expressed worry saying that they could not open their shops due to security concerns as the first reason.
“Number two, they also fear insecurity in the residential area and we assured them that the security is there, let them not worry we have security forces in those areas. So people who have shops in all these markets, we told them to go and open and they have agreed with us and they said by tomorrow, they are going to open their shops” Pitia said.
The chamber of commerce chair noted that those traders who lost everything should wait for organizations that will come to their rescue.
According to the CES chamber of commerce, at least 15 shops have been broken and looted in within the territory of Juba City Council.
Ahamed Adam, one of the Sudanese traders who fled the war atrocities from his home of town in Sudan central Darfur said he had been doing business in Juba’s Gudele two market but lost everything due to the violent anti-Sudanese protest that caught them in Juba.
“My shop had been looted, I lost all my properties, and one of my brothers working in a bakery got injured and his valuables taken. Now we have been protected by the government of South Sudan and now we are in a safe place but we don’t have water and food,” Adam narrated their ordeal.
He appreciated the government for the safety but appealed for some assistance and safety saying they want to live in peace until they could return back to Sudan once the war is over.
The police in its latest security report describe the general situation as relatively calm and normal across the country in the last 24 hours.
Col. John Kassara Koang, the police spokesman noted that there’s been no activity of demonstration registered by the States and the administrative areas for the last 24 hours, and some of the Sudanese who were hosted in the police’s premises within Juba have returned to their houses on Sunday.
He observed that the returns have been encouraged by the calmness of the situation within the residential areas adding they were expecting more numbers to return to their homes in the afternoon.
“We are hereby assuring the public that the police will continue to intensify operations in the main markets and residential areas to root out crimes in order to keep all people living in the Republic of South Sudan safe” Col. Kassara added.