South Sudan cargo tops the list of goods to be auctioned by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), including shipments from two United Nations agencies, pointing to the logistical nightmare in the war-torn country.
Of the 149 consignments at risk of being auctioned by the KRA, more than half are destined for South Sudan, the world’s newest nation, which is teetering on the brink of another civil war after the first vice president, Riek Machar, was reportedly placed under house arrest in late March 2025.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are among the owners of cargo stranded at the Autoport Freight Terminal, which is linked to the family of the Cabinet Secretary for Mining and Blue Economy, Hassan Joho.
In a gazette notice on Friday, the KRA said that it would start auctioning the goods if the owners failed to collect them from the inland container depot in Nairobi within the next 30 days.
“Pursuant to the provisions of Section 42 of the East African Community Customs Management Act 2004 as amended (EACCMA 2004), notice is given that unless the under-mentioned goods are entered and removed from the custody of the Customs Warehouse Keeper, Inland Container Depot Nairobi within thirty (30) days of this notice, they will be treated as abandoned and will be disposed of in accordance with the provisions of EACCMA 2004,” said the KRA.
The taxman added that the abandoned cargo will be sold by public auction for five days starting on June 16, 2025. KRA auctions goods when owners fail to claim the cargo 30 days after it is placed in a bonded warehouse.
There are 149 containers stuck at KRA’s inland depot in Nairobi, 75 of which are destined for South Sudan, while 74 contain Kenyan goods.
There has been renewed violence between a militia linked to Machar and government forces (SSPDF).
The fighting has included aerial bombardment of civilian areas, leading to the displacement of some 100,000 people and exacerbating the already dire humanitarian situation in the country.
The head of the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has already warned that the country is “teetering on the edge of a relapse into civil war.”
However, it appears that even the UN is finding it difficult to take critical supplies to victims of the conflict.
According to the KRA notice, the FAO has a 40-foot container that arrived at the port of Mombasa on February 6, 2025, with 615 packages of hermetic bags. Hermetic bags are airtight containers used primarily for preserving food, particularly grains and pulses.
FAO had another 20-foot container with 2,007 wheelbarrows loads that arrived on the same day.
The UNDP office in Juba imported 339 packages of various electrical and construction materials through the port of Mombasa on February 3.
In addition to Kenya and South Sudan, there are two shipments destined for Rwanda and one for Zambia.
As a landlocked country, South Sudan relies heavily on ports in neighbouring countries for its imports, with the primary one being the port of Mombasa.
