By Deng Machol
Juba – The South Sudan National Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture (SSNCCIA) has urged the business and trader union workers to refrain from the planned civilian uprising against the country’s leaders.
Benjamin Bol Mel, Chairperson, Chamber of Commerce, noted with great concern that the planned protests by a group will have a great negative impact on the fragile business and the economy in the East Africa’s youngest nation.
The People’s Coalition for Civil Action, formed earlier this month has called the demonstrations on 30th August to demand president Salva Kiir and his deputy Dr. Riek Machar step aside.
The group accused President Kiir and his Vice President Machar of their failure to install permanent stability, ending bloodshed and manipulating ethnic differences for their personal political advantage, disregarding the price paid by their citizens for a decade.
“We would like to therefore urge all our members not to participate in such
acts of civil disobedience that with no doubt have a negative impact on the business and
economic scene in South Sudan,” said Bol in a press statement.
Many groups, include South Sudan National Youth Union has pinned down a planned civilian uprising.
According to Bol, the Private Sector in South Sudan has come a long way from the time of struggle for independence to the present.
“We have managed to grow by leaps and bounds which has been primarily because of the peaceful and conducive business environment facilitated by the people and Government of South Sudan,” he explained. These are gains that we need to protect and ensure an even more peaceful environment for the economy to grow even bigger.”
With prevailing peace, Bol said many foreign investors have came to the country for investment.
We have also had an increase in foreign investment into our country because of the prevailing peace.
“These demonstrations will destroy our efforts of bringing even more investors into the country if it showcases South Sudan as not safe for investment,” said Bol.
Bol argued “to ensure business continuity, we urge our members as well as the entire South Sudanese citizenry and trade workers unions to shun the planned protest for the benefit of the economic betterment of our country.”
Bol further ensured the People coalition for civil action to use methods of expression in line with the law that do not disrupt the business environment in South Sudan.
Of recently, president Kiir’s government warns protestors will face a harsh response from the security agents if they floods a Juba capital streets.
The security agents has been deployed to all the demonstrations’ locations in Juba to deters.
Kiir and Machar’s groups has signed a peace deal in 2018, and a government of national unity was formed in 2020 but civilians continue to endure hunger, insecurity and attack by armed groups and criminals across the country.
