Cabinet Minister Dr. martin Elia Lomuro. (File photo).

The Minister of Cabinet Affairs said some national traders who took millions of dollars from the government through letters of credit and failed to deliver goods have contributed to the current economic crisis.

Dr Martin Elia Lomuro said the government gave many national traders millions of dollars since independence to help maintain and stabilize prices, but they did not deliver.

He said the same traders are still demanding payment for goods that were never imported.

“We have our national traders, they benefited from millions of dollars since we became independent, they failed to control the market up to now, and they are continuing to want to take money from the government and yet they didn’t import any commodities,” Lomuro said at a press conference on the current political, security and economic situation in the country.

In 2012, the Ministry of Finance contracted worth of billions of dollars to allegedly fake companies to deliver grain to the ten states in response to a dire hunger created by the Heglig War with neighbouring Sudan.

The grain, locally known as Dura, was supposed to be sold to the hungry population at a low price and the money remitted to the ministry of finance in what would be known as the Dura Saga.

However, many individuals secured the contracts with fake papers, claiming to be companies and ended up getting away with hundreds of millions of dollars without any grain delivered to the states.

In May 2013, the South Sudan Minister of Justice warned that the contracted Dura Saga companies who misused billions of Sudanese pounds would face justice while adding that those in the clear would be paid.

“Where are the South Sudanese traders who are importing flour, sugar, water, and medicine, where are they? You are just blaming the government, and yet you were given millions of dollars, nobody is putting his or her heart into South Sudan,” he lashed out.

Dr Lomuro said he believes the country can only address the rising commodity prices if the government and the private sector work collectively to boost productivity.

“[Price control] is not the work of the government alone, it is our collective responsibility, we as South Sudanese have to see or know how this market is operating.”

“Until when will this continue? we should all work collectively as government and the people to address the problems facing the citizens.”

On 5th February 2024, the Minister of Trade and Industry said the government was renewing letters of credit to traders for the importation of goods to be sold at a cheaper price, in a bid to lower the rising cost of living.

On Monday, the chairperson of the South Sudan Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the government’s failure to pay contracted local traders had marginalized the businessmen in the country.