The dollar rebels are on the run in Juba
By Pal Chol, Juba, South Sudan
May 4, 2016 (SSB) — When H.W, the Lord Mayor of Juba Municipality ordered that the dollarers be cracked down for spoiling the country economy, I was the first to commend that move. The revival and stabilisation of the economy is a collective responsibility and nobody would dare to say no. What might have escaped the mind of the Mayor is that it should not be done the way it is now. The sandmodel to crack down these black market dealers must have not been drawn or studied well.
Look at it now; the dollar war is raging on with high fatalities. I mean to say that the rate is constantly and uncontrollably on the rise. The simple reason is that the dealers are being chased, detained and their money at times confiscated. They are being falsely charged for flouting the law. In my opinion, if the dollar dealers were left alone, the rate would automatically but slowly drop because before the Lord Mayor declared war against them, it went down hastily to 2700ssp.
When the crack-down order was issued, the owners of the dollars reciprocated by elevating the rate at will and the choice belongs to the one who needs it. The rate now has gone beyond the space. I absolutely agree with my colleague Dr Loi that stabilising the economy needs the sons and daughters of this country who are economists, they can do a feasibility studies on how to stabilise the economy, but not individuals who just want to show much allegiant they are to the system.
The Lord Mayor in many people’s views started assuming his office on the wrong footing. It may be your prerogative to chase the dollarers but give our pound a value to compensate the need for dollars. That would have been the right procedure, I opine. I understand and sympathise with the Mayor because he is under obligation to do what pleases the one appointing him and higher up the President. The public outcry; His Worship, is that those you assigned to remedy the economy by cracking down on the dollars insurgents have exceeded their limitations.
The situation is even getting worse than expected. Many dollars and those with pounds looking for dollars complained sometimes of having their money confiscated but no legal procedures follow. The cleverest bail themselves out in an open air courts, let us understand ourselves policy or facilitate your release. My humble appeal to the Mayor is that, given the fact that some of us want to be more royal in the King’s court than the King, let the economy be revived in a way that does not affect or make life difficult as it is now.
It is vital to recall here that the previous attempt to regulate the prices by force made things more complex until when it was left. The vulnerable people are the losers in this dollar saga because no matter how much you earn, you end up having only 50 USD. We have spoken about and against it time and again but we were turned a deaf ear. It needs a collective work but not individuals who intend to show their loyalty at the expense of the common man.
We appreciate your decision but it needs a thorough study. It is unwise to talk of dollars as if we are in the West. The other issue of greatest concern is that the central bank is selling dollars at the higher rate than the black market. What is the perspective here? We shall be tempted to believe that it is the central bank which is the real problem but not the dollar boys in the black market. The central bank rate would have been lower than the black market. The pertinent questions one would want to ask are the followings although one does not expect a convincing answer:
Where does the dollar being sold in the black market come from? Who owns these dollars? Who authorises the release of the dollars to the black market dollar dealers? The public need to know the origin of the dollars which is now causing the friction between the rulers and the ruled. The government has the role to improve the security and improve the economic situation so that those with children abroad bring them back. At least now the unknown gunmen battalion has never been heard of since the coming of the IO and installation of the TGONU.
That is a good sign that the country is already heading towards stability and sustainable peace. The transport in Juba is another big problem which needs fixing. The bus and boda-bodas fares increase daily. The only excuse is that there is no fuel when I am seeing them being sold in plastic bottles along the streets of Juba. There was also a campaign to control that but it failed. I am told the trucks bring the fuel every night but it ends up in the compounds of the liberators.
Then they hire youngsters to go and sell it along the roads. There was also an attempt to control it but in vain. Give chance to our economists. They have the answer. The Juba Municipality dollar confiscation taskforce should collaborate with the National Government on the way forward in reference to stabilising the economy and to find the source of the dollars before they pour in the market.
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