The author says that the aggressive behavior of some South Sudanese officials at hotels in Juba scares off investors and other customers and harms the reputation of the country. 

There are some government officials in Juba who actually believe that they own every hotel, restaurant, shop, office and garage in the city.

They stay at hotels and do not pay. They threaten the owners with death or deportation. They scare away decent customers with their social misbehavior, they do not even know how to talk on the phone.

They sit around all day in hotels with one bottle of water (probably bought from a nearby kiosk) occupying many tables thus depriving genuine customers from giving their custom to the establishments. When they eat they do not pay and many times physically assault waiters for asking them for payment for services received.

This is common in most hotels in Juba.

There is a hotel I know in Tongping owned by a foreigner where many of the guests say that they are presidential advisors, national security, etc etc. Whenever thay are asked for money the reply is that “Who are you to ask us for money? Go away before we kill you.”

This behaviour says that non-nationals are not allowed to ask for money for services given. We as South Sudanese must stop this behavior and also encourage our brothers to pay for services received. Why stay in a hotel if you cannot afford it? Why not live with your budget instead of harassing businessmen, relatives and others to keep up a false lifestyle?

This type of news spreads all over the world, what with all these smart phones, etc, and scares away other potential investors – investors we need to help us develop and succeed. 

The views expressed in ‘opinion’ articles published by Radio Tamazuj are solely those of the writer. The veracity of any claims made are the responsibility of the author, not Radio Tamazuj.