Business officials in South Sudan’s Northern Bahr al Ghazal State have reported incidents in which traders have been intimidated and arrested in order to force them to accept price controls.
The state deputy chairman of the chamber of commerce Garang Athian cited random arrests by the government to control prices as one of three main factors affecting trade in the state. He said the intimidation would deter traders from coming to the state while others would leave the area to work elsewhere where there is safety.
He said the other two factors were poor road conditions between Juba and Aweil and the scarcity of dollars to enable imports.
Likewise, the chairman of the business community Ayii Duang said that he started a tour of the state to learn about the issues affecting traders. He said that traders are not political and should be allowed to sell their goods without insecurity.
Ayii condemned any random arrests of traders and added that this will cause many traders to run away from the state. He was speaking at a business conference on Saturday attended by both traders and officials.
Meanwhile, Caretaker Governor Salva Chol Ayat reassured traders that they would be allowed to sell their goods without price controls by the government and that the government would stop threats against the traders. Nonetheless, he threatened to arrest any trader who “behaves as a politician.”
“We heard that there were traders being arrested illegally and blindfolded, that is a terror – if a trader does a crime… he must be transferred to court and not by that way,” the governor said.
“Also traders should not join in politics but if a trader fails and behaves as a politician, for instance, some traders hide commodities and they say we want the government to change its mind – that cannot be, we will arrest such trader,” he said.
Related:
Awerial shops closed after traders refuse price controls (29 April)
South Sudan govt takes steps to control petrol prices (21 April)
South Sudan forms panel to consider price controls (15 April)
Traders in Aweil protest increasing robberies in market (19 March)