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New highway to South Sudan breathes life to former refugee towns

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A dual road in Lodwar town, Turkana County, on the Lodwar-Lodwar-Kakuma-Lokichogio-Nadapal road which is under construction on September 16, 2021. The road goes to South Sudan. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA | NMG

For the more than three decades that the government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement Army (SPLMA) engaged in war, towns near the border of Kenya and South Sudan were thriving in an economy built on hosting refugees and their non-governmental organisation (NGO) benefactors.

Lokichoggio hosted United Nations (UN) in its Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) programme, with over 40 NGOs operating there to provide humanitarian assistance in the war-torn and drought-ravaged regions in Sudan.

The OLS made the town grow exponentially as many people flocked there for jobs and business. Locals even christened Lokichoggio ‘mwisho wa mawazo’ (end of misery) because money was flowing and once anyone set foot there, they never looked back.

Special envoy to Sudan Lieutenant General (retired) Lazarus Sumbeiywo, a key mediator in the Sudan crisis, said Lokichoggio was the core in the Sudan peace process and subsequent independence of South Sudan because it was safer and nearer to the war-torn region as opposed to Khartoum which was also hostile.

General Sumbeiywo said that the Red Cross even built a hospital at Lopiding to offer health service to the increasing population and injured people evacuated from Sudan, while the hotels and supermarkets used to supply clients from Juba with all types of goods.

“The facility was the largest in the region and it was used to treat thousands of people fleeing the Sudanese war. After we signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in January 2005, the operation at the facility began to reduce as Sudan started enjoying peace and was hospitals there rebuilt,” he said.

Ms Joyce Maina, the owner of Webbs Hotel in Lokichoggio, recalls when Lokichoggio Airport was the hub for food aid that was distributed to millions of people across the then Sudan.

“The town was a pulsating with life and in my bar during OLS, I used would exhaust my stock, selling over 400 crates of beer per month to the employees of NGOs and other people that trooped here,” said Ms Maina.

However, when the guns fell silent after a Sudan peace deal was signed in 2005, and the independence of South Sudan on July 2011, the economic goodie bag shifted away into South Sudan.

The World food Programme (WFP) reduced its air operations in Lokichoggio, even though trucks continued delivering assistance into the new country.

“Steadily business dwindled and with the relocation of UNHCR offices to Kakuma, the town’s fortunes suffered. Amenities including roads became dilapidated,” said Ms Maina.

But now there is renewed hope for Lokichoggio and other neighbouring towns, with the construction of the Kenya-South Sudan highway—designated A1—nearing completion.

There has already been a noted increase in economic activity in the towns along the revamped corridor, mainly from employees of the Chinese road construction company.

The Kenya government and the World Bank are upgrading the road at a cost of over Sh100 billion. The improved road is now an important link along the Biharamalo – Mwanza – Musoma – Sirari – Isebania – Kitale – Lodwar – Lokichogio – Nakodok – Juba Transport Corridor of the East African Community Regional Trunk Road Network.

Imports from Kenya make 25 per cent of South Sudan’s total inflows.

The road has been identified as an important catalyst for the integration of South Sudan into the regional economy and as an important link in the international road connection between Kenya and its neighbours.

Since the beginning of the construction of the road, residents and traders have reported a big drop in the prices of commodities, pointing to the opening up of new markets for farmers and traders from further south in Kitale and Kapenguria.

Businesses are mushrooming in the once remote trading centres, including those meant to cater for the increased numbers of travellers on the newly tarmacked highway.

The residents are also hopeful that the road will attract new investors, some of who will buy land and construct hotels, shopping centres and residential houses providing job opportunities for locals.

With the improved infrastructure, land prices have gone up, with a plot measuring 50 by 100 metres now selling at between Sh 800,000 and Sh1 million depending on the distance from the road, up from Sh100,000 previously.

Ms Halima Mohammed, who operates a grocery store in Lokichoggio, said that locals are enjoying fresh farm produce from Kitale that are only taking a day to reach them.

“Initially, we used to make orders for vegetables and fruits and it would take three days for a lorry to fill up. When the commodities got to Lokichoggio we would incur losses due to most having gone bad, and even the remainder would be sold at very high prices,” Ms Halima said.

Today, a PSV operator can make a return trip to Lodwar from Lokichoggio because of the good road and the growing number of people who are travelling.

For truckers, the expectation is that the reduced cost of transport will net their business from their competitors who use the Uganda route to South Sudan.

“We hope Kenya will become more competitive in terms of road transport for goods going into South Sudan against the Uganda route, which is currently the busier option for land transport into South Sudan,” said Daniel Ekiru, a trucker.

Truckers are however discouraged by the high cess charged by the local county government. They are forced to pay up to Sh10,000 in total cess along with several collection centres before their trucks reach Lokichoggio, adding to the cost of doing business.

Jacob Wekesa, who deals with clearing and forwarding at the border of Kenya and South Sudan said that high cess being charged by the Turkana County government were discouraging truck drivers from using the road despite the ongoing rehabilitation.

Mr Wekesa said that they are charged at Kainuk cess point while entering Turkana County and at Lokichoggio cess point while leaving for South Sudan with even empty trucks not spared.

Residents of Kakuma, which is essentially a town built on the back of a refugee camp, also hope that the new road will spur the local economy and wean it off dependence on NGO funds.