Residents decry skyrocketing commodity prices in Unity State

A shopkeeper at a retail shop in Bentiu Town. (Photo: Radio Tamazuj)

Several residents of South Sudan’s Unity State have voiced concerns over commodity prices that they say have been steadily rising over the last three months.

They also said there is a scarcity of basic commodities across the state due to disruption of transportation from Juba by mostly floods that have cut off some roads.

Speaking to Radio Tamazju over the weekend, several residents of the state capital, Bentiu, urged the state government to intervene to reduce prices before the matter leads to insecurity.

Nyaboth Liah who lives in the Internally Displaced Person’s (IDP) Camp in Bentiu attributed the increasing commodity prices to the ongoing conflict in Sudan.

“I go to the market in Rubkona every day to buy items but the commodity prices are increasing daily. 1 kilogram (kg) of sugar is now SSP 15,000, 1 kg of maize flour 10,000, 1 kg of goat’s meat is 12,000 and I liter of cooking oil is 4,000SSP,” she lamented. “From January up to June, 1 kg maize flour was SSP 1,400, 1 kg of beef 10,000, and oil 1litre of cooking was 2,000.”

“We are informing the government to reduce the prices of commodities but I have nothing to say to the traders because Unity State has no road accessibility to Juba,” Liah added.

Another resident of Bentiu IDP camp, Gattuor Jal, also decried the high prices and said the local people had no money.

“There is not enough money for us to buy expensive commodities because we all do not have jobs and civil servants have not been employed for the last 11 months,” he stated. “The road from Juba to Bentiu has been washed away by floods, so, the situation in Bentiu IDP camp, Bentiu Town, and in all the counties is worsening due to the rise in prices.”

Jal added: “I am requesting the Government of Unity State to reconstruct the road from Mayom County to Juba so that commodity prices reduce.”

The authorities in Unity State said they have been working on the road from Bentiu to Mayom County and that it will be completed in the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, Nyakuma Kueth, a tea seller in Koch County, told this publication on Friday via phone that the high prices of basic goods have disrupted her business.

“My business has been affected by the high price of sugar because I used to buy a kilogram at SSP 15,000 but it has now increased,” she explained.” A cup of tea is SSP 1,000, a cup of coffee at 2,000, and a cup of milk tea is 2,500. I am not getting any profits because I use all my money to buy sugar.”

Many people across the state revealed that traders double prices whenever they manage to bring goods from Juba and blame it on multiple taxations by government institutions and illegal checkpoints.

Keah Mawich, a trader in Rubkona, attributed the high prices to the lack of roads from Juba to Bentiu.

“We are appealing to the Government of Unity State to construct the road from here to Juba because four months ago, prices were lower than now,” he said. “One of the problems is that we transport commodities from Juba to Bentiu using the River Nile which has over 100 checkpoints. What the community members say about high prices is true but it is not us traders who make the prices high but the government because of their high taxes on merchants.”

On his part, Mawich Gatkuoth of Bentiu Town said the local currency has depreciated so much against the U.S. dollar creating inflation.

“We have not been able to afford goods since the USD 100 rose to SSP 450,000,” he revealed.

The Director General at the Unity State Ministry of Trade and Investment, John Kang Bol, acknowledged the complaints about high commodity prices and confirmed the existence of multiple checkpoints and taxation points where traders are required to pay money.

“There are so many checkpoints on the rivers which were supposed to be removed because they demand a lot of money from traders transporting goods from Juba to Bentiu. Traders keep increasing the prices of commodities and they are right because they come to our office many times to complain,” he explained. “We send all the complaints from civilians and traders to the Unity State Secretariat General, especially to H.E Governor Justice Riek Biem and his deputy to address the challenges.”

“There are unidentified forces that collect money from traders when they arrive in the state with their goods,” Bol concluded.