Amb. Simon Juac Deng, South Sudan Ambassador to Uganda speaks on Eye Radio's Dawn Show. June 21, 2023. | Photo: Awan Moses/Eye Radio

Juba is engaging Kampala after traders from a neighbouring country suspended food imports as customs officials in Nimule confiscated ‘toxic food items’, South Sudan Ambassador to Uganda has said.

Two weeks ago, South Sudan officials at the Nimule border point confiscated at least 120 tons of food items deemed unsuitable for human consumption.

They said samples from the shipment were confirmed to have high aflatoxin after the National Bureau of Standards subjected the grains to several laboratory tests.

The Bureau of Standards later resolved it would destroy the items and free the drivers.

Early this week, Ugandan media reported that grain dealers under their umbrella body, the Nation Millers Association suspended the exportation of food to South Sudan to protest the move.

The traders argued that destroying the food will tarnish Uganda’s image despite Kampala being a food basket in the region.

When contacted on the issue, South Sudan’s Ambassador Simon Juac Deng says they have scheduled meetings with several actors in Kampala and Juba to address the conflict.

He says the government of South Sudan is approaching the matter with an open mind because he says the crisis is administrative.

“We have planned discussions with various actors in Uganda and also back home in Juba,” Amb. Juac said.

“We are approaching this with an open mind to find a lasting solution on a way how to address conflicts when they arise in our trading.”

“I don’t want to see happen for such minor hiccups in the trading to be seen as trade wars between our sisterly countries,” he said.

“These are just administrative things that can be handled, and we will improve with time on how to manage the situation on such incidences”.

Ambassador Juac went on to encourage South Sudanese to make good use of the country’s arable land and farm to shun the over-dependence on imported food.