[OPEN LETTER] – Petition on Logbook and Insurance Renewal Requirements

Concerned Citizens’ Representative
South Sudan
Juba
6 August 2025

To:
The Director General
Traffic Police Department
South Sudan
Juba

Subject: Petition on Logbook and Insurance Renewal Requirements

Dear Sir/Madam,

We, the concerned citizens, are writing to express our dissatisfaction with the current system regarding the so called “open logbook” and annual insurance renewal requirements.

Although the logbook is officially referred to as “open,” drivers continue to experience harassment and detention at various checkpoints. Even when vehicles clearly display valid insurance stickers showing one year of coverage, traffic officers often detain drivers, claiming that the insurance information recorded in the logbook has expired. This has caused unnecessary confusion and hardship for law-abiding drivers.

If the logbook is indeed open, why must it still require annual insurance renewal entries? Has this change genuinely benefited the public, or is it simply symbolic, while the same burdens remain in place?

We therefore respectfully call on the Traffic Police Department to urgently review this matter. We see two clear options:

1) Reinstate the previous system in which both the logbook and insurance details are renewed annually, or

2) Remove insurance information entirely from the logbook if it is to remain permanently open.

This issue affects thousands of vehicle owners across the country, disrupts the free movement of people and goods,and undermines public trust in traffic regulation. We urge your office to provide clear and consistent guidance to traffic officers and ensure that policies are transparent, enforceable and fair.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Yours faithfully,
Taban Andrew
On behalf of Concerned Citizens

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