South Sudan’s Minister of Finance has justified his decision to terminate the contract of the Revenue Authority’s commissioner general.
Last week, Minister Salvatore Garang Mabiordit fired Dr. Olympio Attipoe without explanations. The Ghanaian national was appointed by President Kiir last year through a deal with the African Development Bank.
In an interview with South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) on Tuesday, Salvatore said he exhausted all legal procedures before terminating the contract of the commissioner general.
He disclosed that the commissioner general was fired for violating policies governing the financial system in the country. He claimed that Mr Attipoe opened a bank account for the Revenue Authority abroad without the government’s knowledge.
“The commissioner general’s contract was terminated and the board was dissolved. The reasons are that the commissioner general has been persistently violating our laws,” he explained.
“He opened a bank account without permission from the ministry of finance. He went to Mombasa town in Kenya and opened a US dollar bank account,” he said.
Salvatore underscored that any move to open a bank account for the country’s Revenue Authority must be approved by the finance ministry and its signatories must be at least three government officials.
About 90% of South Sudan government’s revenue comes from oil resources, while the rest is collected in the form of customs taxes, market taxes, road taxes, income tax and permits, among others.
According to earlier reports, the management of oil revenues and income from other sources in South Sudan has been characterized by a total lack of transparency.