Bar Association gives Interior Ministry three days over vehicle number plates

The South Sudan Bar Association has given the Minister of Interior three days to revoke an alleged directive on company vehicle number plates, release seized vehicles and refund fees collected, or face legal action. In a press release shared with Eye Radio and signed by the Association’s chairperson, Arop Malueth Manoon, the Bar Association accused the Directorate of Traffic Police of seizing company-owned vehicles, forcibly replacing their number plates and demanding payments exclusively in US dollars for new plates and the release of the vehicles. The Association said the plates described as outdated were issued by the same Directorate after vehicle owners paid the required fees, arguing that they remain valid proof of vehicle registration.

It said it had found no law, ministerial order, regulation or public notice authorising the compulsory replacement of the plates, seizure of vehicles on that basis or collection of additional fees in foreign currency. The Bar Association argued that the alleged practice violates several provisions of the Transitional Constitution of South Sudan, including those concerning the rule of law, the National Legislature’s powers to impose fees, the South Sudanese pound as legal tender and the protection of private property. It also questioned the authority of caretaker office holders to introduce new substantive measures while the national parliament remains unelected. The Association said it had formally served the Minister of Interior with a notice of demand and intention to institute legal proceedings. It is demanding the immediate withdrawal of the alleged directive, the unconditional release of all seized vehicles, a full refund of money collected, an independent investigation into the officers involved and a public announcement…