The Council of Ministers in Yei River state has proposed a bill called the “social service tax bill” to be passed into law once accepted by parliament despite insecurity in the state and an economic crisis.
The bill as proposed by the local government and law enforcement ministry stated that each individual in the ‘working class’ in the area will be subjected to pay an amount of 50 SSP per month.
Minister of Information Stephen Ladu told reporters after an extra-ordinary meeting on Monday that the service tax bill is part of government’s strategy to raise revenue from the people to meet its plan of service delivery and implementation of development projects in the thirteen counties of the new state.
“Our state local government act of 2009 has put it very clearly that the source for the local government in the counties and payams will come from the human resources which is aimed at service delivery to the people in the communities. This is only for the working class from the age of 18 to 65 years,” he said.
Critics say that the bill has not been researched and there was no consultation with the public.
When reached for comments, a South Sudanese development student at Uganda Christian University who preferred anonymity told Radio Tamazuj that the state government’s policy of introducing service tax bill is not relevant in the current situation.
“Instead of introducing a tax policy, the state government should first embark on peace and stability so that businesses boom up, employment also picks up hence the government will raise a lot of revenue,” he said.
“Yes this a good idea but it has come at a wrong time where many people are still in the refugee camps, very poor and struggling to get a meal for the day and also looking at the economic challenges I strongly believed that this policy is not workable now.”
Parts of Yei River State have been occupied by SPLA-IO rebels. Tens of thousands of residents have fled in recent months to refugee camps in neighbouring Uganda and many business operations also came to a standstill in the area.