Commissioners Urged To Preach Peace

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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He said South Sudan would not develop without the efforts of the commissioners and they should work for peace in the communities as peace is a key determinant for development in Jonglei State.

Manyang said that is there is peace people be engaged in food production and instructed the commissioners to implement the Local Government Act to help in the governance.

Jonglei Minister of Local Government, Diing Akol Diing asked the commissioners and executive directors to account for the county development grants and the Community Development Fund (CDF) issued to the counties including the work plans.

“We want to know the workforce of the local government and the line ministries. We want know how many workers are there in your counties and how much money in the budget you spend on them yearly,” Akol said.

According to the minister, the state government transfers almost one million South Sudanese Pounds to the state counties for development, but no single county has accounted on how the funds have been used.

The commissioners presented the challenges they face in administration including poor roads, health and education facilities.

There are some counties with no access to roads and this makes the collection of taxes difficult when local government authorities try to intervene.

The forum was also aimed at finding strategies to generate revenue for the vast state characterised by militia activities in parts of Pibor County.

It was attended by the County Administrators, Paramount Chiefs and State Ministers and included training on decentralization, service delivery, effective tax collection and budgeting.

It was organized by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the state government.

During the passing of the state budget, the finance minister said they have faced some financial challenges as the budget allocated for the state by national government because their revenues which were projected to top up the budget of 2011 to 2012 was not enough compared to their proposed budget.

State Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Aquilla Maluth Mam said that they will put in more efforts by implementing projected revenues to be collected so that they can manage to see that more than 95% or 100% of the revenue collected to avoid budget deficits.

The state assembly issued a decree last month that any person above 18 years of sound mind is legible to pay the Social Service taxes.

Jonglei state Assembly speaker Peter Wal said bill is about collection of the social service taxes from a South Sudanese who is a resident of any respective county within Jonglei State.

The forum was to address the issue of insecurity in state as well as the presence of the militia group in Pibor County.