Parts of Kajo Keji market as of 30th June 2022. Credit: Logonyi Denis/Classic FM.

Traders in Kajo-Keji County of Central Equatoria say they are reviving business in the area despite poor road conditions hindering the movement of people and goods.

Since 2016, the road connecting Juba with Kajo-Keji has remained in poor condition.

According to some of the traders and motorists, poor road conditions are partly contributing to the high cost of living in the county.

Poni Scovia, a retailer at Kajo-Keji main market said traders are transporting their goods to Kajo Keji using motorcycles due to bad roads.

This, according to her, is expensive and takes a limited amount of goods.

“Right now if you are bringing things [goods] we don’t use vehicles, we use motorcycles for transporting things whereby if you are using a motorcycle, a motorcycle cannot carry a lot of things,” Scovia narrated.

“Sometimes a motorcycle can carry a few things and they charge you 30,000 sometimes if you get a bad one, they will charge you 50,000 pounds. If it is a lorry, that one will charge you a lot of money.”

The 2008 Sudan population census estimates that Kajo-Keji town and its surrounding areas had inhabitants of nearly 200, 000 people.

However, the majority of these inhabitants were displaced following the outbreak of the 2016 civil war.

Despite the post-conflict challenges, Scovia believes that with the return of displaced persons, business in Kajo-Keji will one day stand on its feet.

“The business is somehow a bit fine, people are still coming so we are just here trying. Though there are not that many, we are getting something little,” she added.

“We are trying here but again this issue of this road, the government should try to work on it.”

Kajo-Keji is among other counties in South Sudan that were severely affected by the civil war.

Reports suggest that most of the infrastructures were destroyed and houses were abandoned during the violence.

Sallah Abdalla is a motorist who started a transportation business between Juba and Kajo-Keji in 2017.

He says the Juba-Kajo Keji road remains a major challenge to transporters in the state.

Abdallah is however appealing to the Central Equatoria State government to rehabilitate the road to ease transport between Juba and Kajo-Keji.

“We have raised the issue of this road to our leaders several times now but the government is not taking it into consideration or telling us the truth, we are just using it like that,” said Sallah Abdalla during an interview in Kajo-Keji town.

“Our appeal to the government is to let them hurry and rehabilitate this road. We are facing a lot of challenges.”

Kajo-Keji is approximately 150 kilometers south of the national capital Juba.

The area is known for abundant resources such as arable land for agriculture, forestry, and many other natural resources.

An area motorist who prefers to be identified only as Allafi says passengers now prefer using planes than the road.

Motorists and some travelers say going by road to Kajo-Keji may take not less than one day.

Allafi however says rehabilitation of Juba – Kajo-Keji road is critical for business and for the benefit of local populations.

“Sometimes we do spend a week or even a month because some passengers don’t want to go by the road; they prefer using a plane,” he said.

“These are the challenges we are facing but if this road is repaired, it will create opportunities for us but if you stay for a week when you have family, you cannot survive,

“We want the government to rehabilitate this road so that the passengers can prefer traveling by road.”

In September last year, some motorists and travelers also called on the government to repair the impassable Juba-Kajo Keji road which was damaged by heavy rains.

According to the motorists, the road during that time was already in bad conditions.

They say bridges and culverts are often washed away during rainy seasons making it difficult to transport people and goods from the capital Juba.

Despite some of these challenges, business in Kajo-Keji has started returning to its feet.

Inyani Moses Franco, the Chairperson of Kajo-Keji chamber of commerce said many shops have opened in the area.

“I am so glad that Mere, there are a lot of shops in Mere outlet shops like markets are also opening up like Leikor. It is also coming up with a good number of shops,” Moses explained.

“Despite the challenges, I am encouraging those who are interested even if you are not from Kejo-Keji here, you are welcome with your business because what we want is to bring us the services so that we may not face some of the challenges like going to Juba to buy.”

Since the outbreak of the 2016 conflict, roads connecting Juba to Kajo-Keji remained in poor condition.

Moses however explains why he thinks rehabilitation of the Juba – Kajo Keji road is critical in generating revenues for the government.

“If the government can quicken the issue of the road, it will serve us. It is not only Kajo-Keji because this road is connected to Uganda,” Inyani Moses expressed.

“This is one of the roads that will generate a lot of revenue for the government. So I am appealing to the government if they can quicken the issue of the road. That will be so impressive.”

Responding to the concerns, the Commissioner of Kajo-Keji County acknowledged the challenges facing traders and motorists in using Juba-Kajo Keji road.

Kenyi Erasto says rehabilitation of the Juba-Kajo Keji road requires a joint effort by the government and private sectors.

“The civilians that actually buy are the ones suffering and you see the prices going higher and higher from time to time,” Erasto stated.

“So I am appealing to our government and to the partners that together we need to work on this road of Juba – Kajo Keji so that the businessmen find it simple to get to Juba to buy commodities and the prices reduce and the last consumer also enjoys.”

The unity government is currently constructing major highways such as Juba-Rumbek, Juba-Bor, Juba Yei – Kaya, Juba–Mundri-Yambio, Bahr el Ghazal road among others.

A week ago, the Central Equatoria State government launched the construction of the Terekeka-Tindilo-Tali road project under the theme “building roads and bridges for prosperity in Central Equatoria State.”

This according to the State government is in line with the State Agenda of consolidating peace through development.

The state authorities believe that constructing feeder Roads and essential Bridges is critical to enhancing the movement of people and promoting social-economic development through boosting agricultural productivity across the State.

Speaking to the media in Kajo-Keji town last week, the chairperson of the Central Equatoria State chamber of commerce says peace is critical for private sectors to operate in the area.

“In every developed country or if you want to develop, they need peace and security,” Pitia Robert explained.

“We are asking our government at the national level, at the state, and at the county to make sure all the security organs and the people should work for the security of this county because when there is peace and security, people will come and invest in this county.”

Robert however went on to say several roadblocks set on Juba – Kajo Keji road are being used by some individuals to extort money from motorists and traders.

Robert however could not cite any person or groups behind the roadblocks.

“The roadblocks are providing security for us. Some of these roadblocks, there are some individuals or soldiers taking money, illegal collections of money,” he revealed.

“We also need to send this message to our commanders who are also here so that they also know to address this issue with these soldiers so that this kind of thing stops.”

In March last year, the Governor of Central Equatoria ordered the immediate removal of all illegal checkpoints and roadblocks across the state.

Governor Emmanuel Adil Anthony in the order said illegal checkpoints operated by security officers were hindering movement of people and goods in the state.

A few months after the order, the police also announced the arrest of more than 18 members of the organized forces accused of staging illegal roadblocks on the Nimule-Juba highway with the intention of extorting money from truck drivers.

Commissioner Kenyi Erasto however promised to look into the matter.

“These roadblocks are not meant for the collection of money, they are meant for the security checkup so they should stick to the security checkup not to collect money,” he said.

“This is my message to the army that is handling the roadblocks.”

Experts say improved roads can reduce transport and input costs, increase timely input availability, and therefore can result in higher agricultural productivity.

Others suggest that high costs of transport may contribute to an increase of poor people living in remote areas.

They however recommend more investments in road infrastructure developments to improve the livelihood of people in rural areas.