Juba City Needs Enough Budget to Remain always Clean

Since Juba City was selected as capital of the then Government of Southern Sudan during the interim period in 2005; its dirtiness has been subject of the day due to what many people and observers termed our great city as slum city of the African family. This is because almost every part of our city is dirty. The City Council under Mayor Mohammed El Haj Baballa, despite the effort inserted to clean up the City, nevertheless the environmental cleanness could not improve allegedly for many reasons.

Among them is that there are no permanent staff to do the job of cleaning. But the simple question is whether the duty of environmental cleanness or protection is specific job given to few individuals or is it a primary role of every citizen to clean and have healthy environment? And the answer is the later as provided under Article 41 (2) of the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan 2011 that stipulates ‘every person shall have obligation to protect the environment for benefit for the present and future generations’.

In light of the above findings, the government of the Republic of South Sudan and the relevant institutions in particular such as Ministry of Environment and the Central Equatoria State government should prioritize amongst other issues the cleaning of Juba City by increasing the budgetary support to fund for continuous cleaning of Juba City and its peripheries. The cleaning workforce should be our youth and fully support them by giving just financial incentives. It will absolutely be a right decision and way forward than employing vulnerable groups like women and children who do not know where to start and somewhat doing the job without commitment, but only for financial gains.

Second, I was in confusion when I heard our President Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit warning the City Mayor, during the Martyrs’ Memorial Day about failure of the City Council to clean Juba. It throws some questions that beg answers if I am not well informed whether the City Council has its own budget? Does it have staff? Are they doing their duty or not? Although there are other non-governmental organizations likely seen to have taken up cleaning of Juba City, yet the government has upper hand to contribute including guidelines through City Council in order to recruit staff for this  job.

Finally, I would turn to question the status of the environmental legislation which is still a bill. The coming into force of this vital law will enable the law implementing agency and the law binding citizens collectively well aware of what to do as far as environment is concern.

The Author is south Sudanese citizen and can be reached at e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Juba City Needs Enough Budget to Remain always Clean

By Kuot Majok Gumjok

Since Juba City was selected as capital of the then Government of Southern Sudan during the interim period in 2005; its dirtiness has been subject of the day due to what many people and observers termed our great city as slum city of the African family. This is because almost every part of our city is dirty. The City Council under Mayor Mohammed El Haj Baballa, despite the effort inserted to clean up the City, nevertheless the environmental cleanness could not improve allegedly for many reasons.

Among them is that there are no permanent staff to do the job of cleaning. But the simple question is whether the duty of environmental cleanness or protection is specific job given to few individuals or is it a primary role of every citizen to clean and have healthy environment? And the answer is the later as provided under Article 41 (2) of the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan 2011 that stipulates ‘every person shall have obligation to protect the environment for benefit for the present and future generations’.

In light of the above findings, the government of the Republic of South Sudan and the relevant institutions in particular such as Ministry of Environment and the Central Equatoria State government should prioritize amongst other issues the cleaning of Juba City by increasing the budgetary support to fund for continuous cleaning of Juba City and its peripheries. The cleaning workforce should be our youth and fully support them by giving just financial incentives. It will absolutely be a right decision and way forward than employing vulnerable groups like women and children who do not know where to start and somewhat doing the job without commitment, but only for financial gains.

Second, I was in confusion when I heard our President Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit warning the City Mayor, during the Martyrs’ Memorial Day about failure of the City Council to clean Juba. It throws some questions that beg answers if I am not well informed whether the City Council has its own budget? Does it have staff? Are they doing their duty or not? Although there are other non-governmental organizations likely seen to have taken up cleaning of Juba City, yet the government has upper hand to contribute including guidelines through City Council in order to recruit staff for this  job.

Finally, I would turn to question the status of the environmental legislation which is still a bill. The coming into force of this vital law will enable the law implementing agency and the law binding citizens collectively well aware of what to do as far as environment is concern.

The Author is south Sudanese citizen and can be reached at e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.