South Sudan asks its nationals to return, invest home
South Sudanese Ambassador to Uganda, Simon Juach Deng (red cap), his Eritrean counterpart Mohammed Silieman Ahmed (L) and South Sudanese Peoples' Defence Forces general external spokesperson Maj Gen Kuol Deng toast to South Sudan's 40th liberation anniversary at the South Sudan Embassy in Kampala on May 16, 2023. PHOTO/STEPHEN OTAGE
The South Sudan Embassy has asked its nationals who are living in Uganda to return home and invest in agriculture and industrialization since peace has returned to their country.
Speaking at their 40th Liberation Anniversary celebrations on May 16, South Sudanese Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Simon Juach Deng further urged citizens of neighboring countries to invest in South Sudan despite presence of what he described as “some small armed groups that are causing economic sabotage by occasionally ambushing traders and robbing them of their merchandise.”
“The South Sudan economy has improved since 2018. Come back and invest in South Sudan because it is strategically located in the East African Community (EAC). That is why we have both lincensed and unlicensed Ugandans doing businesses. I am inviting you to pass the message that there is peace across the country,” Deng said.
Asked how many South Sudanese refugees are hosted in Uganda, he said he is not sure about the exact number because Uganda started hosting South Sudanese refugees during colonial times. However, he noted that he is aware of a South Sudan people concertation in Kayunga, Bugerere and Bombo areas.
According to Deng, 67 per cent of South Sudan is arable land and only 4 per cent of it is being used amidst vast opportunities in agriculture, agro industrialization, electricity generation, petroleum, mining and other endless opportunities which other East African countries should embrace to realize stability in the region.
Maj Gen Kuol Deng, the Director General External and Public Relations of the South Sudanese Peoples’ Defence Forces explained that Tuesday’s celebrations were to commemorate the day South Sudan seceded from North Sudan, commonly known as Khartoum. He said the fight for cessation, started in 1955 when South Sudan rebelled against Khartoum during the Anyanya rebellion.
He further claimed that before the colonialists left Sudan, they connived with the Khartoum government to grant them independence in 1956 so that they could grab the oil rich part of South Sudan so as to take control of the oil deposits but South Sudanese resisted the annexation.
According to him it is very important to celebrate the liberation day “because the ongoing war in Khartoum has awakened the people in the North about the danger of war due to the way Sudan has been ruined.”
“South Sudan and neighbiouring countries are working hard to ensure that war ends,” he remarked.
