South Sudan’s Western Bahr el Ghazal’s state government is calling on its traditional leaders to assist in revenue collection.
The state minister of Local Government Kamil Wana Oraj, speaking on Tuesday during Governor Sarah Cleoto’s visit to Mapel Town of Jur River County said among other duties traditional leaders should mobilize tax collection.
“Your responsibility as chiefs, chiefs must organize the communities that they are responsible for. Now we need the chiefs to organize tax payments, there must be taxes paid because for a long time, the government has not asked citizens to pay taxes,” he said.
“Chiefs must be stern with your people and deliver the taxes to the government,” he added.
Oraj revealed that each chief is in charge of at least 2,500 citizens who sho pay taxes to the government to facilitate service delivery.
For her part, Governor Cleto said, “We as the state government, our motor is peace through services delivery. During this short transitional period, we need to do something, we need to deliver services to our people. Let us lay a foundation of which if elections come with a new government, they should continue with the foundation we established,” she announced.
She also urged the traditional leaders to continue promoting peace and stability in their areas, saying it is everyone’s responsibility.
Meanwhile, the state minister for Cabinet Affairs Arkangelo Anyar Anyar advised the youth to get involved in productive activities that will improve their lives.