Uganda: traders furious over govt U-turn on South Sudan deal

Trucks park at the Oraba border point in Koboko. Across the valley is Kaya town in South Sudan (PHOTO | FELIX WAROM OKELLO)

Ugandan traders who suffered losses in South Sudan have described a decision by the government of Uganda not to compensate them as insensitive.

In an interview with this publication on October 10, Finance Minister Matia Kasaija said the Ugandan government would not pay the traders and advised those seeking compensation to negotiate with the government of South Sudan.

However, the affected traders have accused the government of going back on an agreement it signed with its South Sudan counterpart to pay them on behalf of the latter.

Mr John Bosco Omara, one of the traders who allegedly lost $2.1 million (about Shs7.8 billion), said the government’s stand is unfair.

“We had several meetings with the government of Uganda and that of South Sudan where they signed an agreement that Uganda would pay its traders and later on, recover that money from the South Sudan government. Now Kasaija has changed that position and is saying he cannot pay us, where does he expect us to go?” he questioned.

Omara, who currently resides in Lira City, said as a result of the loss he suffered, he was unable to pay off loans he acquired from commercial banks, which ended up taking and selling some of his assets in Kampala.

He said some of the assets he lost include a commercial hostel at Kiswa, Bugolobi, Kampala which the bank sold to a church and a residence in Bweyogerere,  Wakiso.

 “As I speak now, I am in the village. My wife left me and went back to her parents. My children who had been studying at Kampala Parents’ School and other top schools are now in rural UPE (Universal Primary Education) and USE (Universal Secondary Education) schools and I cannot even afford to pay for them. Where do I end with this kind of life?” an emotional Omara asked.

Omara says when the situation started getting worse, he met Mr Kasaija and requested him for a bailout but the minister allegedly “spat” in his face.

“I met him armed with my documents and pleaded with him to intervene so that banks would not sell my property, but he told me ‘I don’t know you’. When I told him Parliament had passed a resolution asking the government to pay us, he asked me ‘what is Parliament in Uganda?’,” Omara said, with tears streaking down his face.

He added that he has been condemned to life of misery and sometimes contemplates committing suicide.

Another trader, Mr Geoffrey Okwi Gunya, the managing director of T.A Gunya Trading Company, said 10 of their colleagues died before receiving compensation, while others have developed mental issues due to the trauma caused by the prolonged wait for compensation.

“Two weeks ago, I was told one of our colleagues in Masindi called Abdallah, ran mad. He is one those who lost money in South Sudan, but has never been compensated. More others, about 10 of them, have also died either by committing suicide or because they cannot afford treatment for their sicknesses,” Mr Gunya, a former chairperson of the Ugandan traders in South Sudan, said.

Gunya said other countries, whose citizens lost businesses in South Sudan, paid their traders under the same scheme as the one Uganda was supposed to use to pay them.

“Kenya did it and paid its traders, Eritrea did the same, Ethiopia, South Africa, Rwanda and other countries all paid their citizens. So, why is the Uganda government sending us back to the South Sudan government?” he asked.

Adding: “We get perturbed when government wants to pay only three companies $190 million (Shs708b). Who are these companies and where are they from? Why should the government pay such huge amounts to companies [and yet] some of them were not even there [on the list] from the beginning?”

Ms Sharon Anenah, the daughter of the proprietor of Makpaco, one of the affected companies, said they are on the verge of losing everything.

Mr Kenneth Kamukago, a director at Chant Agencies, who allegedly lost about $2m (Shs7.4b), said: “We lost money, we lost property and we lost everything. We feel bad because companies that never existed are being given huge amounts and no one knows where they came from.”

He added: “Why would they bring a company that never existed and then award them a whole $147m (Shs547.9b)? Did they supply the whole of Africa? What is that money for and yet they have no records among those who supplied goods to South Sudan between 2008 and 2015?”

Efforts to get a comment from Mr Kasaija, who signed a September 22 addendum to the earlier agreement, were futile as he could not be reached by press time.

He had, however, earlier said all questions on the matter should be directed to the South Sudan government.

Mr Jim Mugunga, the Finance ministry spokesperson, was yet to answer our calls and respond to our messages sent to his WhatsApp.

Govt backtracks on agreement

In 2016, Uganda signed a bilateral agreement with the government of South Sudan to pay Ugandan traders and the money would be repaid by South Sudan as a loan.

“GoU (Government of Uganda) shall effect payment of the above claims on behalf of GoSS (Government of South Sudan), within 12 months of the effectiveness of this agreement. Upon making payments, GoU shall issue an advisory note/statement to GOSS specifying the amount(s) paid and the recipients on the basis of the list of the verified and confirmed Uganda traders,” part of the bilateral agreement states.

Government of South Sudan, on its part, committed to repay the Ugandan government on the respective due dates in accordance with the payment schedule provided by Uganda.

Based on the bilateral agreement, the Ugandan government asked the Juba establishment to issue a sovereign guarantee, which would form the basis upon which Uganda would pay them money.

On August 15, 2018, Mr Kasaija wrote to his counterpart in Juba requesting for the issuance of a sovereign guarantee to enable the release of funds to the traders.

How and why Uganda backtracked on the agreement is yet to be established.

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