By Sabri Dibaco
Juba County Caretaker Commissioner Kalisto Lado has denied reports circulating on social media claiming that he ordered foreign nationals to leave Juba within seven days.
Lado said the reports were a misrepresentation of remarks he made during a cleaning and reorganisation campaign at Kubri Haboba Market in Juba, where he called for foreigners to stop engaging in small-scale retail businesses and instead focus on wholesale trade and larger investments.
“The Commissioner has never said that, and it is not even the mandate of the Commissioner to actually evacuate people or to send people out of South Sudan,” Lado said in a clarification issued after the reports began circulating.
The commissioner said South Sudan remains open to foreigners who enter the country legally and come with legitimate intentions, including business, residence, and humanitarian activities.
“In fact, the South Sudan policy is welcoming. We are welcoming everybody from any country who wants to come to be with us in South Sudan, provided that this person is not a criminal, this person is very clean, somebody [is] coming with good intention of business, or even of residing with us, or coming with some humanitarian reasons,” Lado said.
Lado explained that his original statement at Kubri Haboba was specifically about the participation of foreign nationals in small-scale retail businesses.
“My statement was that foreigners should not be trading in retail business. Let them do the wholesale. So this is not sending people away,” he said.
The commissioner said the position was intended to protect opportunities for South Sudanese, particularly women and young people who depend on small businesses for their livelihoods.
He cited businesses such as selling chapati, potatoes, onions, and tomatoes, as well as operating boda boda motorcycles and selling other everyday commodities.
“If the women who have come here from the other countries are now trading on chapati, selling potatoes, selling onions, selling tomatoes, and so many things, including our local things like tameya, like legemat, and so on, then what would our own women be selling?” Lado said.
He argued that foreign nationals with capital should instead invest in businesses that can contribute to the wider economy through employment and production.
“I am encouraging the foreigners who come to us to come with capital, huge capital for establishing companies, or expanding industries, or factories that will produce goods that will help our people, and that will also employ our people,” he said.
Lado stressed that the position should not be interpreted as hostility towards foreigners or a prohibition on foreign investment.
“There is nothing about sending foreigners out of South Sudan. There is nothing about prohibiting foreigners from doing business. There is nothing about hating foreigners,” he said.
Lado further rejected the claim that he had issued an ultimatum for foreigners to leave the country, saying matters concerning the entry, residence, and removal of foreign nationals fall under relevant national authorities.
“There is no ultimatum given for foreigners to leave the country by the Commissioner, because even this is not my mandate; this is not my work. We have the Foreign Affairs, [and] we have the Ministry of Interior that can be doing all,” he said.
The commissioner also clarified that the county’s ongoing activities at markets and along roads should not be interpreted as indiscriminate demolition of structures.
“We are not demolishing structures. We are organising the road, taking garbage out of the road, and sending those who are putting their goods on the road to be in the rightful places,” he said.
Lado said the county administration has been working to organise markets, clear roads, and ensure that traders operate from appropriate locations.
The commissioner has also instructed traders at Kubri Haboba to improve temporary structures, with reports indicating that businesses operating from iron-sheet structures were given seven days to construct permanent concrete shops.
Lado urged foreign nationals living and working in South Sudan not to panic over the reports circulating on social media.
“For our foreigners who are here, be peaceful, no fear, no worry, unless you commit any crime; the laws of South Sudan will not leave,” he said.
He also called on foreign nationals to respect South Sudanese laws and communities while conducting their activities in the country.
The clarification is expected to ease concerns among foreign nationals and traders following the spread of claims online that foreigners had been given seven days to leave South Sudan.
The commissioner’s position, however, remains that foreign nationals are welcome to live and invest in South Sudan, but small-scale retail trade should be reserved for South Sudanese, while foreign investors are encouraged to focus on wholesale, manufacturing, and larger businesses.