Mandera South MP Abdul Haro, following a request for a report from the Kenyan embassy and consular mission in South Sudan on the welfare of Kenyans in Juba after a fire at the city’s Custom Market on December 1, 2025, visited the area alongside other leaders to assess the situation firsthand.
During the recent Jamhuri Day celebrations, Haro said that for the first time, the Kenyan Embassy in South Sudan had invited Kenyan businessmen and women in the diaspora to celebrations at the embassy amid the ongoing fire inferno, which had set a market housing up to 4,000 stalls ablaze.
The lawmaker expressed his devastation, saying that the fire caused a big loss and that the businesspeople had hoped for profit from the sales during the festive season.
“We visited Juba, saw our Kenyans affected by the fire tragedy, and yes, we can confirm that this is a market housing 4000 stalls from businessmen and women from the entire East Africa region. Kenyans had overstalls, which got razed down, and they lost all their savings,’’ he said.
He added that the team met with the Kenyan ambassador.
“They had bought merchandise with all that they had to make a profit over the festive season, but all went up in flames. We met with those Kenyans and also met with the Ambassador and his team at the Kenyan Embassy in Juba,’’ Haro said.
The Mandera South legislator later reported that the team, after a long meeting, directed the commencement of registering a diaspora business community to ease tracing of ongoing activities in Sudan.
“It was a good meeting, which resolved that the Embassy assist Kenyans in registering a diaspora business community working in South Sudan with officials to help in dialogue with the embassy and help trace Kenyans when anything happens in both states,” he added.
Haro also said that the delegation met with legislators from South Sudan, including the speaker of the South Sudan National Assembly and her deputy, the South Sudan finance and planning minister, the chairperson of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI), and the mayor of Juba City, concluding that the journey was very fruitful and some results have started to emerge.
Juba City Council and the University of Juba reached a temporary agreement to allow traders affected by the Nyakuron Market fire to operate temporarily in the Custom Market area for at least two years.
The decision follows a joint meeting on Friday in Juba between City Mayor Christopher Sarafino Wani Swaka and Vice-Chancellor Professor Robert Mayom Deng.
