Beneath cross border trade in West Nile

A DRC pick-up packed with merchandise heading to Ariwara town. The Congolese have contributed immensely to the development of West Nile sub-region. PHOTO BY FELIX WAROM OKELLO

What you need to know:

The multi-ethnic character of West Nile sub-region is one of its strengths that has spurred economic growth both in Uganda and across the borders.

The fortunes of the residents of West Nile grow every passing day, thanks to the trade it enjoys with her neighbours, South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The trade has contributed a lot of revenue for the three countries, however, some of this income is lost to unscrupulous law enforcers in South Sudan and DRC.

As a result, some traders have lost their lives across the border, while survivors have lost their goods in barbaric attacks.

In spite of these attacks, the cross-border trade is far from over as there is more that binds those engaged in this activity.

The effect of the cross-border trade has enabled the establishment of various businesses for local entrepreneurs. The Congolese have similarly established their businesses in the region just like Ugandans also have their businesses across the two countries. But ethnically, the sub-region also shares the languages with the two neighbouring countries. For instance, when one crosses from Arua to Aru town in DRC, one can be able to speak Lugbara, from Nebbi to Mahagi, they all speak Alur, from Moyo to South Sudan the Kukus and Madi’s speak a related language and Kakwa from Uganda and DRC speak a similar language.

The ties are stronger than the language. They also share similar culture in terms of dance, food and dressing. These are some of the conditions that have eased trade within the three countries. The women, who are at the helm of trade, trek long distances in hot and dusty conditions carrying heavy loads of goods.

Reports
A survey by Rural Initiative for Community Empowerment (RICE), an NGO operating in the sub-region indicates that Arua has about 1,394 traders-mainly women who depend on small cross-border trade with DRC.

Grace Ayikoru who frequently travels to Duruba in DRC says she once resorted to walking on foot after the truck she was travelling in had been impounded by illegal law enforcement officers in DRC.

She says these officers often subject traders to illegal taxes, harassment which sometimes forces them out of business. “At about six road blocks you have to pay otherwise they could either confiscate your goods or block you from proceeding. It is not easy and you have to be resilient otherwise you end up paying almost Shs150,000 in illegal taxes,” she added.

Setbacks
The illegal taxes and harassment go unabated due to political powerlessness and legal fragility that eases manipulation. Associations of small traders have little power or are non-existent to offer coordination and redress.

The revelations are corroborated by recent research conducted by International Alert which found that women had to hide kitenge under their clothes to get them across the border, which sometimes leads to abusive searches.

Similarly at some border points, provincial government offices collect taxes even though they have no authorisation to operate in the locations. The director RICE Pax Sakari, said: “These women need protection from the two states for their economic gain. Also we need our people to produce quality goods that can have market in the two countries.”

The Chef de Protocole D’etat of Aru territory, Corneille Aluma, said: “We had ordered officials not to mistreat Ugandans crossing for trade, but we still have some few elements who are misbehaving. Cross border trade is beneficial to all because it promotes economic growth of the two countries,” he said.

Coping mechanism
However, the traders have not run out of survival mechanisms. One common practice at all border locations is to declare a lower amount than actually paid. For instance, a trader importing goods where they have to pay $30 (about 102,000) is issued a receipt for $15 but pays $20 (about Shs68,000). This may be a win-win situation for both individuals, but the state loses out.

Despite harassment, border trade is the bedrock for the growth of Arua, Koboko, Nebbi, Moyo and Adjumani. The numbers of banks has also increased to 13. The toursim business has improved with new hotels springing up.

Trickle down effect
A Bank of Uganda report shows that Oraba, the dominant border for Uganda’s informal exports in 2009 accounted for $324.29 million. This was an increase by 8.7 per cent from the previous year. However, in 2010, there was a decline to $72.18 million of the total informal exports.

Paidha town in Zombo District which borders DRC was third and accounted for $6.72m (about Shs22b) in 2010 and $8.67m in 2009. Vurra border in Arua recorded $90.9 million between 2009 and 2010 in exports, while imports were at $18m (about Shs6.1 trillion).

According to a report by International Alert, despite the conflicts in South Sudan, informal exports from Uganda to South Sudan grew enormously during this period, from $ 9.1 million (about Shs3b) in 2005 to $ 929.9 million in 2008.
Last year, Arua town emerged second best after Cape Verde’s Praia in the Small Cities Best Towns category in Africa awards.

How to get there
To get to West Nile, you turn west just beyond Karuma Falls along an excellent, European-built road, one of the best we have been on. The road to Arua, capital of West Nile, skirts the northern edge of Murchison Falls National Park - indeed, passes through it. It was along this road in south-western Acholiland that many of the camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) were established during the northern insurgency.

The story of West Nile
The international boundaries of Uganda cut across these ethnic groups. The Congo/Uganda boundary partitions the Alur and Lugbara tribes while the Sudan/Uganda boundary partitions the Kakwa and Madi tribes.

Because of this, what happens in the Congo and the Sudan has a direct bearing on West Nilers. Developments in the DRC and the Sudan are naturally of interest to the people of Uganda in general, but West Nile in particular.

West Nile was originally part of the “Lado Enclave”, named after the river port of Lado located in the South Sudan. The enclave which consisted of territory which is today northern Uganda and South Eastern Sudan was part of the Congo Free State until 1910 when it reverted to Anglo- Egyptian control, as per the Anglo- German Treaty of 1890.

According to the 1890 treaty, Belgian King Leopold’s hold on to the territory would lapse at the end of his reign.

Another treaty signed on August 14, 1894, gave the Lado Enclave to King Leopold II on lease until his death in 1910. During the first decade of the 20th century, the British sought by force to establish total control over southern Sudan and to achieve this end, the Sudan- Uganda border was delimited in 1913 and amended in 1914 when Sudan ceded the southern tip of the Lado Enclave, i.e. West Nile, to Uganda Protectorate.

In 1912 and 1913, a joint Anglo- Belgian Commission mapped and drew the Belgian Congo/Uganda Protectorate boundary from Lake Albert north-eastward to the Congo/Nile watershed.
In 1913, a Sudanese/Uganda Commission delimited the common boundary on the ground between Bahr al Jabal and the Belgian Congo tripoint, near the present Ariwara.

The new boundaries were officially promulgated on April 21, 1914 by the British government.
According to an order issued by the British Secretary of State, the area west of the River Nile, which was the southern part of the Lado Enclave, was transferred to Uganda Protectorate and became West Nile District.

In return, to the east of the River Nile, Uganda Protectorate transferred to the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan the area from the parallel of 5° E up to the boundary with Ethiopia.
On February 3, 1915, these new boundaries were officially recognised by Belgium and Britain, the two colonial powers in the region. The new borders enabled Britain to finally realise her dream to control the waters of the Nile from the source to Cairo, Egypt.
The search for the source of the Nile brought to Uganda the explorer John Speke who wrongly claimed that he discovered the source of the Nile in July 1862!