South Sudan’s Vice President James Wani Igga has revealed that government investigators have found widespread corruption and irregularities in the collection of taxes and fees in the country. They found, for example, mismanagement of at least 6.5 million pounds in civil aviation revenues.

About 90% of the government’s revenue comes from oil revenue, but the rest is collected in the form of customs taxes, market taxes, road taxes, income tax, permits, and other fees.

A committee headed by the minister of Cabinet Affairs was formed on 27 May 2014 to scrutinize reports on non-oil revenues collected by various revenue-collecting agencies. The committee has received detailed reports from 21 agencies about their collections from April 2013 to April 2014.

Igga spoke about the findings of the committee after a presentation by the Minister of Finance on Thursday, which showed a lot of mismanagement of non-oil revenue.

For example, the Civil Aviation agency put their grand total collection from April 2013 to April 2014 at SSP 6,590,700. This revenue was collected from fees imposed on daily airplane flights that come to and from Juba and other destinations.

Civil Aviation has remitted 0% of this revenue to the Ministry of Finance, according to the report.

Ministers, undersecretaries, director-generals and heads of financial departments were present on Thursday at the premises of Parliamentary Affairs hall when Igga addressed them warning them that anybody in the government who refused to be reformed will be reformed by force.

The government is of the opinion that non-oil revenues are not properly collected and corruption is widespread across the board, according to Igga.

He pointed out that South Sudan has been described as the fifth most corrupt state in the world, saying some ‘individuals’ were empowered by their ministries to play the games.

“This must stop,” said the vice president.

For his part, Minister of Finance Aggrey Tisa Sabuni said South Sudan lacks ‘state capacity’ whereby certain individuals are more powerful then the state. “Otherwise how are they still collecting money up to now? There are 80 roadblocks between Nimule and Bentiu. Who are those people?” he said.

Tisa explained that from 2005 up to 2011, there is total confusion in tax collection. He pointed to the numerous road checkpoints collecting money manned by national state, or county officials, or even by chief and regular people.

He noted that efforts have been lacking to manage the non-oil revenues properly. He also disclosed that the former finance minister Kosti Manibe had planned to dispatch accountants from his ministry to others, but the idea brought tension and was rejected.

Sabuni further noted that most payments are made in cash to tax officials, rather than through the bank, raising the risk of revenue being pocket rather than remitted. Tisa said most tax collectors are illegal and untouchable. 

The vice president stressed, “We cannot continue to have the shame brought on us by some of us, and be left just like that. So all of us must raise and begin to improve. But my friend, put patriotism number one for your country and people, and if you don’t have this love you will continue to be corrupt forever.” 

Photo: Vice President James Wani Igga speaking about corruption, 5 June 2014

Gallery 1: Aggrey Tissa Saboni, Minister of Finance, 5 June 2014

Gallery 2:  Ministers, under-secretaries, director generals and heads of finance departments at the event in Juba about corruption, 5 June 2014