By Frank Kamuntu
The South Sudanese Ambassador to Uganda has appealed to authorities back in Juba to address alleged harassment of citizens of other East Africa Community (EAC) member-states by immigration officials.
In an attempt to address the diplomatic policies in both countries, Amb Simon Juach said Juba and Kampala need to embrace the EAC policies sanctioning labour mobility.
“You cannot be saying [that] we need people and goods to move freely, and on the other hand, we put impediments,” Ambassador Juach said.
He was reacting to a call by the government of Uganda to South Sudanese authorities calling them to exempt Ugandan citizens from alien registration.
Uganda’s First Deputy Prime Minister Rebecca Kadaga had challenged Juba to adhere to the East Africa Community (EAC) charter, which calls for free movement of people and labour within the region.
“I have an issue with the Republic of South Sudan, and I am glad the ambassador is here because I had talked to my colleague [Deng] to ensure that Ugandans are exempted from the Aliens Registration Act,” said Kadaga, who is also Uganda’s Minister for EAC, in Kampala this week.
South Sudan, being a member of the EAC, is a signatory to the charter that calls for a common market protocol that provides for free movement of people, labour, and services.
South Sudan has waived the visa for EAC citizens, though East Africans are still mandated to have the alien certificate and ‘screening’ form, which are charged at SSP 25, 000 and SSP 14, 000, respectively, by the immigration officials.
Juach, however, said that the matter should be addressed promptly.
“As members of the East African Community, we have agreed to free movement of people and goods; that is the baseline. Whatever else is happening in between, needs to be made clear: who is doing what, and why is it being done.
“If it does happen, it has to cease because that doesn’t encourage the integration agenda that we are talking about.
“We shall amicably resolve these issues if they are actually existing,” Ambassador Juach was quoted by the Uganda Monitor as saying.
The two leaders spoke during the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) phase 2 building in Kampala this week.
Uganda, however, insists that her citizens have been subjected to harassment, with Kadaga further alleging that some Ugandan students who lack the documents are even blocked from accessing education in South Sudan.
‘’If you really ask yourself, how easy is it for a student to move from one country to another to study. How far have we aligned our education systems to build up the regional education system?” queried Kadaga.
But on this, Amb Juach differed with Kadaga, arguing that South Sudanese are being subjected to a fee meant for international students and not those from the members from the East Africa Community.
“There is this issue of pupils pass that every student who is an international student is charge an equivalent of $100, we are members of this community we agreed this fee should not be charged to member state.”
“In the terminology of the East African community, South Sudanese in Uganda are not aliens,” Juach added.
South Sudan is a member of the East Africa Community members include South Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo.
