Commercial trucks convoy from Uganda. - Courtesy

The Ugandan government is reportedly planning to repair damaged parts of the Nimule-Juba Highway to facilitate efficient movement of commercial goods between the two countries.

Ramathan Ggobi, Uganda’s Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Finance, said Kampala is looking into building roads in the southern parts of South Sudan to facilitate trade.

The official encouraged his countrymen to see the project as a positive step to boost Uganda’s exports to the rich market in South Sudan.

“When we build these regional infrastructures, like we are building roads in the Congo, these are not roads for DRC, but these are actually roads for Uganda because they are going to take Uganda goods,” Ramathan said on NTV Uganda.

“Now they have told me the roads from Nimule to Juba requires construction and yet their trucks which are taking goods there, need roads.”

“This is something we are going to look into again with our government and the responsible ministries of work. And we shall have a conversation as a government and see whether we can replicate what we are doing in Congo, and we will build that road.”

The Juba-Nimule Road is a vital cross-border trade route on which landlocked South Sudan depends as a lifeline highway for importing goods from the region and overseas.

It is also the passage for Uganda goods into one of its largest export markets in the region.

However, the highway has been deplored by traders and travelers who decry mobility challenges resulting from bad condition characterized by potholes and broken sections.

In June 2023, the Executive Director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization, Edmund Yakani, called on the government to maintain the Juba–Nimule Highway and restore its acceptable standard.

Yakani, who spoke upon returning from Uganda using the roads, said his trip experience was “terrible, disturbing and stressful.”