South Sudanese diplomatic staff say their country’s embassy in Nairobi has been closed due to the government’s failure to pay rent for several months.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Saturday on condition of anonymity, several embassy staff confirmed that South Sudan’s embassy in Kenya was closed on Friday.
“The landlord came on Friday and locked the embassy buildings. So the embassy will remain closed until the government in Juba intervenes,” one of the staff members said.
“The embassy has been unable to pay rent for nearly a year, and the monthly rent is about $9,000,” another staff member said.
South Sudan’s ambassador to Kenya, Anthony Louis Kon, is currently in the capital, Juba.
Reacting to the news, a South Sudanese civil society leader urged the Office of the President to intervene after the country’s embassy in Nairobi was closed over unpaid rent.
Edmund Yakani, Executive Director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), described the situation as “disturbing, discouraging and embarrassing,” especially at a time when South Sudan’s political instability requires active regional engagement.
“The status of our embassy’s rental fee is alarming. Kenya is a strategic country for South Sudan, and maintaining a functional and influential diplomatic presence there is critical,” Yakani said.
He called on President Kiir and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to act swiftly to resolve the issue and restore the embassy’s operations.
Apuk Ayuel, spokesperson for South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, could not immediately be reached for comment.
In September, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was working to downsize staff at its embassies and consulates worldwide to cut operational costs.
The move followed a directive from President Salva Kiir aimed at reducing the financial burden of the country’s foreign missions, Ayuel told a weekly media briefing in September.
“This is an internal administrative procedure,” Ayuel said. “We were directed by His Excellency the President to reduce the financial obligations of our foreign missions, and the ministry is working out how to do that and will begin implementing the downsizing plan.”
South Sudan, which depends on oil for more than 90% of its revenue, has struggled to recover from years of civil war, corruption and weak institutions.
The crisis has left South Sudan’s government strapped for cash, and most of the country’s diplomats around the world have not received salaries for several months.