UN military cargo truck drivers protest

Drivers of trucks carrying United Nations military gear destined for South Sudan have protested against delays at the Malaba border.

The drivers have been camping at the Uganda customs yard for close to three weeks.

Their problem arose due to an unresolved pay dispute between their employers and the UN.

The matter is further complicated by lack of communication from the vehicles’ owners, who ordered them to park the 18 trucks.

Their spokesman, Mr Nathaniel Munyaka, said they had ferried the Juba-bound military gear from the port of Mombasa to Malaba and had been cleared at the border post.

Run out of supplies

He said they could not, however, leave the yard as the agents supposed to receive the cargo at the South Sudan border post were not ready.

“We can’t proceed with our journey as we were told that the agents in South Sudan were not ready to receive us,” said Mr Munyaka, adding that he and his colleagues were worried as they were running out of supplies.

“We are running out of supplies as this stalemate continues and without any extra allowance from our employers we might find it hard to make the round trip comfortably,” said Mr Munyaka.
It is expensive to stay in Juba without your own supplies, he added.

Reports in local dailies on Wednesday indicated that the transporters had ordered their vehicles to be parked as the UN had not paid them to deliver the consignments.

The transporters said they were not moving the vehicles until they were paid.