Yei is a city in the Central Equatoria State of Southern Sudan and a local headquarters of the SPLA for Central Equatoria state, formerly part of the province of Equatoria under the administrative of Mukaya Payam before the signing of CPA in 2005.The name Yei was born as a traditional place for leaving sorceries for Pojulu and Azende and poisons for Kakwa. This was during the earlier conflict between kakaw of Marakonye and Pojulu of Mukaya Payam. The name Yei was declared by three chiefs of Mukaya, Gimunu and Azende to the river Yei where in 1915 a small clinic was set up by British missionaries. The city dwellers prefer to call it small London because of its cosmopolitan nature.
Before civil war broke out in 1983, Yei was a booming town because of its proximity to the Ugandan and Congolese borders. To get into the inner part of south Sudan, most trade had to pass through the town.
Yei was located in the embattled region of the Second Sudanese Civil War and was conquered on 10 March 1997 by the SPLA.
Because of the civil war, the city's infrastructure, trade and industry are poorly developed. But with the signing of a peace-agreement between the Sudanese government in Khartoum and the SPLA there are the first signs of economic recovery.
The road between Yei and Kaya, on the Ugandan border, has been repaired. It was financed by HABITAT and WFP. With the improvements the travel time to Kaya was reduced from five hours to one.
The city is surrounded by lush farmlands and coffee and cassava are among some of the commodities grown outside the city. Yei's proximity to the border with the DRC and Uganda ensures that the business potential of Yei is immense.
Based on the English Wikipedias article on Yei, avilable under a the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
