Heavy traffic jam during Custom-Gudele road. November 2023. - Photo by Stephen Omiri/Eye Radio

The Assistant Inspector General of Police for Traffic is appealing for installation of vital road safety equipment including traffic light and camera to manage increasing jams worsened by limited and narrow roads in Juba.

Lt. Gen. James Ruot Wuor said officers are overwhelmed with a growing number of vehicles in the city, leading to deadly road accidents.

This comes after the Executive Secretary of Northern Corridor Secretariat revealed that around 3,200 people die of road accidents in South Sudan every year – indicating 29 deaths per every 10,000 people.

Gen. Wuor said his office grapples with inadequate infrastructure, lack of safety markings, limited public awareness, and insufficient enforcement resources.

According to him, once traffic light and camera are available, a single street can be managed by only two officers, whereas, currently a whole force is sent to the streets to control sprawling jam.

“Every year in Juba, we face a lot of challenges as traffic police. Lack of traffic requirements such as traffic light and camera. All those are very limited,” he said.

“Always cars, motors and rickshaws are increasing making jams. So it has become problem. Roads are very limited for them to pass.  In the morning hours, I used to send my personnel to go and control during sunshine.”

“If there is a traffic light, I could not even send more than 10 people. It is only two people that can go for supervision on how people are moving. But because of lack of those things, that’s why I used to send all forces. That’s why you are seeing all officers on the road in big number.”

The Assistant IGP decried the limited number and narrow roads in Juba, a situation, which according to him, is unlike other road infrastructure systems in other countries.

“To me, I traveled everywhere, but what I have today is not the same as Uganda, it is not the same as Kenya or even Khartoum or Ethiopia because there is always sub road and down road, but now we are using only the down road all of us.”

“Even the president is using the same road. He is supposed to be given a chance to move freely. That’s why we have to send soldiers before he goes to his office because of limitation of roads unless we stop people from going.”

Gen. Wuor said road safety is not the responsibility of one institution or the government alone but requires the collective effort of policymakers, law enforcement and motorists.

He further said the traffic police and relevant agencies will continue to play its role in enforcing the law, but we urge all road users to commit to safer practices.

Speaking in the same event, Northern Corridor Executive Secretary Dr. John Deng Diar Diing said South Sudan is among the countries with the highest road accident mortality rates in the region.

Mr. Diing says human factors account for 72% of these accidents—primarily due to reckless driving and unsafe road use, while stressing that targeted interventions are critical.

He emphasized the need for effective road safety measures.

In January 2024, former Central Equatoria State Governor Emmanuel Adil  launched installation of more than 300 solar-powered streetlights, and traffic signals in Juba and the state counties.

However, there is no functioning traffic light in the streets of Juba, and it is not clear what happened to the project.