Ah, memories. Traffic Accident in Juba.

I’d almost forgotten about this.  Within a week of coming back to Juba from being sick, this incident happened.  Quite a memory.  This is a message from my boss to the management team in Washington DC:

I just wanted to inform you about an incident that took place this morning.  John and I were on our way to USAID.  James, one of the senior partners in Anchor driving services, was driving us.  He tends to be very careful and slow.  A young boy dashed out between two cars in the other lane right into the road.  As soon as James saw him, he used the breaks, but still hit the boy.  The boy got out of the street under a tree by himself, but was still quite wounded.  A large mob quickly gathered and before any other action could be taken, the Sudanese reached through the window, and opened the door and pulled the driver out of the car.  They began to beat him and yell at him.

Fortunately, the police came and tension eased slightly, though in these circumstances, the police can also be a cause of concern.  I called Helene who immediately got in a car with the RSO to come to our location.  They allowed the driver back in the car, and a police officer accompanied us to the police station.  The RSO and Helene were behind us about 5 minutes.  The RSO’s southern Sudanese officer went into the police station to look after James and make sure he was not mishandled.

John went in the USAID car and I went back to the office in another car, so we are both fine.  It looks now as though James will be released this evening since the boy will be released from the hospital.

This is just yet another reminder of the security procedures that we need to put in place and follow, and that we do not get danger pay for the hell of it.  As soon as we get our cars here in Juba, we will hire Sudanese drivers, and think about what kind of training courses might be available.  Lessons learned will definitely be forthcoming.