The council of ministers in Lakes State on Thursday passed an annual budget of SSP 55,630,714 for 1, 229 chiefs across the State.
The annual budget was presented to the council of ministers by Local Government Minister Chol Kuotwil Manhom.
The idea of compensating chiefs for their work was mooted and approved during the fifth Governors’ Forum which was presided over by President Kiir Mayardit and First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar in Juba in November 2021.
Lakes State Information Minister William Koji Kirjok told Radio Tamazuj after the budget was approved that the chiefs will be paid on monthly basis to improve their living and working conditions.
“You remember in the 5th Governors’ Forum, It was resolved that traditional chiefs across the country be paid on a monthly basis because by then they were just getting incentives,” Koji explained. “Lakes State has just started to implement the policy by restructuring all these chiefs and putting them in order and identifying for them the grades based on their seniority and those grades have their own budget for payment. The total amount calculated for the 1,229 chiefs is equivalent to SSP 55,630,714.”
He said this money will be appropriated from the SSP 10 billion national budget approved by the transitional government in Juba.
The minister of local government and law enforcement agencies in Lakes State, Chol Kuotwil Manhom, confirmed that each chief will be paid based on their grade.
“The government is informing the community that the payment of social tax service from the community is going to be introduced in Lakes State, and this tax will be returned to the community inform of development”, he said.
When contacted, the executive chief of Malengagok Payam in Rumbek East County, Sultan Majak Deng Mabok, said that they were aware of the government’s plans to pay them.
“All of us are aware of the move to allocate a budget for the chiefs and we thank Governor Rin Tueny Mabor for that process,” he said. “Since the budget for the chiefs has been passed. That is good news for us and it will help in peace initiatives in the state.”