South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit on Wednesday evening sacked the Commissioner General of the South Sudan Revenue Authority (SSRA), Africano Mande Gedima, and replaced him with Simon Akuei Deng.
The Revenue Authority is the revenue service of the South Sudan government. It is a non-oil revenue-collecting body that was established in 2016 under the National Revenue Authority Act, 2016. The Revenue Authority’s branches include the Domestic Tax Division and the Customs Division.
In a presidential decree announced on the state-owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) television, Kiir did not give any reason for the sacking of the SSRA boss.
The new Commissioner General, Simon Akuei, is the Secretary General of the South Sudan National Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture.
Akuei is also the Senior Coordinator of the Africa Resources Corporation, a South Sudanese road construction firm currently undertaking a number of government-funded road projects in the country. The company is linked to Senior Presidential Special Envoy and businessman Dr. Benjamin Bol Mel.
The dismissal of Africano from his position as Commissioner General came amid a deteriorating economic situation and the devaluation of the local currency, which has resulted in soaring commodity prices.
Last week, President Kiir also appointed Taban Abel as the new Deputy Commissioner General of the South Sudan Revenue Authority, replacing Albino Dak Othow.
South Sudan’s citizens are complaining about skyrocketing prices of essential commodities like food due to the deteriorating economic situation.
The landlocked, oil-rich country depends on oil revenue to finance 98 percent of the budget, but production has reduced due to the war in Sudan between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
South Sudan’s oil pipeline to international markets, which passes through neighboring Sudan, was damaged in February, prompting the Dar Petroleum Oil Company to suspend loadings.
A team of technical experts from the two countries has now been working to fix the broken pipeline so that oil production can resume in the coming few months.