After a short camp stay in Uganda’s Murchison falls national park, it is a scorching hot Thursday noon, I embark on a long haul drive enroute to Uganda’s Elegu border town before crossing into South Sudan.
Uganda’s Transport Ministry had weeks ago announced closure of Karuma Bridge for repairs and diverted traffic via a 3,893 km2 Murchison falls national park that makes it the biggest national park in Uganda.
The diversion of traffic came as manna for me and other waiting tourists because of free access to the park where one is entertained by free viewing of Africa’s giant herbivores, lions, warthogs, primates. The roads through this park are tarmac and the speed limit is 30km/hr.
Baboons cuddle and groom just seated on the tarmac and have become accustomed to storming small cars to search for edibles. Road signposts warn against leaving open car windows and it is prohibited to throw snacks to these wild animals.
At the entrance of the park, you are welcomed by an impenetrable forest with various species of trees and thick vegetation.
The forest canopy prevents sun rays from piercing through and the smell is a blend of natural scents blown by silent slow winds clashing with tree branches to deliver frightening sounds. You wish your car should not suffer any technical failures inside this park.
After an hour driving through this pristine natural isolation, a tow truck approaches towing a smaller 4-wheel pickup truck. I give way but my fears grow of what could have happened to the towed car. I notice a giant heap of dung on tarmac and realise elephants could be grazing in the vicinity.
If you have seen clips of elephants overturning small cars or pushing their trunks through car windows, that is what comes to my mind but I soldier on pressing lightly on the accelerator.
Half way through the park, we suddenly emerge and cross a giant river. Remember , this park is bisected by the Victoria Nile from east to west. After crossing, we embark on vast Savanna grasslands with herds of impala’s , gazelles, antelopes, buffolos, giraffes, and elephants.
The elephant fruit trees standout as far as one’s eyes can see in this zone of the park. After two extra hours of drive we emerge from the park and proceed to Gulu city arriving at 9PM before proceeding to spend a night at Atiak town.
In April 1995, rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army rounded up, abducted and massacred hundreds at Atiak trading centre. I chose to spend a night at this town which is about a 30 minutes drive to the Elegu border post. Atiak is a very busy town and has a vibrant nightlife.
The Atiak night clubs are blaring off music and noise from revellers, mostly youth , many of whom may have not been born when Joseph Kony, leader of LRA tried to exterminate residents of this area.
The following day, I embarked on the drive to Elegu border post, at the northern border of Uganda with South Sudan. I arrived in Elegu town after an uninterrupted drive of 30 minutes. Elegu town could possibly be Uganda’s fastest growing town attracting nearly all nationalities in East Africa. Business is booming and construction of new buildings is ongoing at a fast rate.
“We need more people to invest in Elegu because it offers several opportunities,” Kassim Omar the LCI chairperson of this town says during a short conversation with Taarifa.
Nimule-Elegu border post
On paper, the Nimule-Elegu border post is described as a One Stop Border Post (OSBP). On the Ugandan side the facilities are excellent and the service is quick.
With passport and right paperwork, one takes less than a minute to process through on the Ugandan side. The customs and immigration officers are swift, smart and helpful.
On the South Sudan side it is referred to as Nimule, everything in Nimule turns out to be very different, once you can see money bribes changing hands.
For a Rwandan intending to travel to Juba via Uganda’s Elegu border post, know very well that you will pay to enter South Sudan and again pay while exiting the country, Taarifa reliably reports.
Rwanda’s only significant representation in South Sudan are the Trinity 8-wheeled Chinese made luxury yutong buses in trademark light blue and white colours.
It is the favourite choice for South Sudanese elite travellers always booking ahead of time to enjoy the free wifi on board, air-conditioning and extreme cleanliness and promptness.
If you were not alive in the period when most African countries attained their Independence, South Sudan provides you a first hand experience of what a baby country looks like, behaves and what to expect.
Let me begin with the most important and obvious- Security; this is the most complicated subject to explain since it manifests in various forms.
Driving from Nimule (border town inside South Sudan), tuned in to any local FM radio radio station, news suddenly airs reporting that a Bus about 10km has been ambushed by armed men, ransacked and burnt down leaving several passengers dead. Yet about 40Km behind, there is an ongoing attack on a trading centre by angry armed men.
There is no immediate solution; you cannot drive back and you cannot proceed with the journey. I stopped the car and walked to a roadside shop to buy water, and I asked the shopkeeper why there are rampant attacks in the area, he responded in limited English mixed with arabic; “the soldiers have not been paid for one year. So they have to commit such crimes.”
Luck strikes from nowhere and suddenly, a speeding convoy of five military Landcruiser trucks with mounted heavy machine guns speeds past and the shopkeeper advises, “follow them, they are clearing the road, if you delay, the armed bandits may attack from behind,” I immediately enter the car and speed ahead to and realise other private cars and buses emerging from the rear.
The moment triggers a feeling that life is not an entitlement… After twenty minutes of defensive driving, we meet a burning landcruiser car with an NGO licence plate. It looks like it was a robbery.
Currency
There is a general complaint among the South Sudanese that the local pound has tremendously lost value against the dollar and disastrously against the Uganda shilling. (1000 Uganda shillings goes for 1330 South Sudan pound).
Ugandan traders who largely dominate South Sudan engaging in various forms of business are unhappy with the poor performance of the local pound. They argue that doing business in South Sudan is not worth the risk. Before they would soldier on to fetch the pound then exchange it to get bags of Ugandan currency on returning home.
“We are just like doing business in Uganda because the South Sudan currency value is almost the same as back home,” says Mukiibi Omar who has deals in phone charging business in Nimule town council.
Approaching John Adule, a resident of Bor that operates a money lending business to help in exchanging my Uganda shillings to pounds asks what my nationality is and I tell him Rwanda he looks me in the eyes, ” We don’t want foreigners here. we shall close our border and keep you out. You foreigners are taking away our money,” he laments.
I extend to him the 200,000 Uganda shillings to exchange into pounds, ” 1000 shs, I will give you 1330pounds,” he says while showing me figures on calculator screen . He counts 266,000pounds and hands it to me.
Despite the insecurity in South Sudan, Money traders position small tables along the street and pile bundles of different currencies waiting for clients. In Rwanda I have never seen money being sold in the open like fruits.
Rwandans in South Sudan
In Elegu town on the Ugandan side of the border with South Sudan, there are many Rwandans engaged in leisure, bars, money lending, money exchange and mobile money transfer businesses.
However, in Elemu town inside the South Sudan border there are nearly no Rwandans involved in business especially after I combed through all the streets.
In Juba the South Sudan capital, Rwandans have set up supermarkets, decent bars and money lending businesses. South Sudanese speak English on a wide scale compared to Rwanda, so communication becomes much easier while using English.
Agrey kuol Deng operates a hardware shop, he explains that his country needs more foreign investors, ” we need investors to take up opportunities in virgin sectors especially Breweries, construction materials, Education, extraction, Health,Tourism and Agriculture.”
Politics tearing South Sudan Apart
The dangerous game of politics is a shacky domain that needs proper ideological orientation. South Sudan needs to be introduced to multiparty democracy and taking the military out of politics while addressing tribalism and xenophobia.
South Sudan has lost many foreign investors due to xenophobia exhibited among the natives blaming the country’s problems on foreigners.
Southern Sudan became independent in 2011.
Since 1983, the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) fighters battled against soldiers of the Sudanese central government until 2005 when the two sides signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, ending the civil war.
More to come in series
