Azande Kingdom urges gov’t to rehabilitate Juba-Yambio road for market access

A minister in the Azande Kingdom has appealed to the national government to rehabilitate the Juba–Western Equatoria road to promote and ease the transportation of local produce to the national capital.

The call comes after the Kingdom delivered close to 4,000 pieces of watermelon from the Azande Kingdom’s farm to Juba to promote the local produce.

The 3,790 organic watermelons consignment, which arrived in Juba on Monday afternoon, is expected to be sold wholesale today.

Sebit Angelo Abebe – minister representing other tribes at the Azande Kingdom spoke to the media in Juba on Monday, July 15, 2024.

“Our road to Western Equatoria is very bad, so we are appealing to our government of South Sudan and our President Salva Kiir Mayardit, that if there is a possibility, rehabilitate this road for us,” said Sebit.

“This will ease the transportation of our farm produce to Juba, and this will be easier to transport perishable goods,” he said.

“There are so many plans we have as the Kingdom, especially how to transport produce to Juba because there are other produce items that cannot spend two or three days.

“It would be better to transport them in the fastest time so that we can help our people in Juba,” he concluded.

In April this year, King Atoroba Peni Rikito Gbudue, with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, embarked on mass farming and harvesting of watermelon to supply the market in a bid to bring down the fruit price.

Sebit says the Azande Kingdom is committed to promoting agriculture and ensuring the community has access to affordable food.

“Our King of the Azande Kingdom promotes agriculture because it is very important and encourages local production in South Sudan,” said Sebit.

“We have brought about 3,790 watermelons; these are what we have transported to Juba, and we have left some which are being sold in Yambio,” he said.

“We are not planting this with fertilizer because our land is fertile, and God has blessed it already, so we have plans to bring produce from Yambio to Juba and the entire South Sudan.”

Watermelon is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit.

A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varieties.