The administration of Central Equatoria State’s Juba County has warned street vendors against displaying and selling their wares on the main streets of the Gudele suburb on the western outskirts of Juba City.
Juba County Commissioner Emmanuel Teta Simon also ordered shop owners not to allow anyone to sell goods in front of their shops, warning that those who do not comply will be fined.
Al-Fateh Marghani, the County Executive Director, also visited markets in Gudele and Gombo-Sherikat, during which he warned merchants plying their trade on the main streets.
“As of Tuesday, we will expel merchants who trade on the main streets, in addition to imposing financial fines and confiscating their goods,” he warned.
Marghani also cautioned traders and vendors against disposing of waste on the streets and urged them to adhere to laws in Juba County.
For his part, Pruitt Raphael, the Director of Public Order in Juba County, reiterated the county’s stand that the goods of anyone found vending on the streets will be confiscated.
“We in the public system in Juba Province want to preserve the lives of citizens,” he stated. “Yes, the circumstances are difficult, but the system is necessary for South Sudan to be like developed countries.”
However, a cross-section of the residents of Gudele rejected the directives issued by Juba County authorities, stressing that the county did not provide them with shops or markets to work from.
A female vendor in Gudele who preferred anonymity said rain destroyed the market allocated to them by the government.
“The government indeed has the right to evict from the main street, but we want a solution to our problem,” she said. “We are widows raising orphans. If the government provides us with a place, we will leave the streets even today.”
Another vendor, Sunni Joy, explained that the shops inside the Gudele market are controlled by traders from Darfur, Sudan at the expense of nationals who do not have shops and cannot even afford them.
“We call on the government to provide commercial stores for southerners in a good location that has rainwater drainage,” she appealed.
Meanwhile, Noel Lado Dario, the Director of Public Order in the Rajaf Locality, welcomed the visit of the county authorities and called for cooperation with traders to organize the market.
Speaking on behalf of the Acting Director of Police in Juba, First Lieutenant Hajj Bashir, said they are in the process of implementing the commissioner’s order regarding organizing markets in the county and combating crime.
The residents of Juba’s Gumbo neighborhood also rejected the directives issued by the county authorities regarding market operations.