November 19th 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – South Sudan government has been accused of lacking transparency in collecting its non-oil revenue, former National Revenue Authority (NRA) boss said.
NRA chairman Dr. Olympio Attipoe who was dismissed in August said South Sudan government which goes months without paying its civil servants can afford to pay its civil servants if the government were to be transparent in collecting its revenue collection.
Before his dismissal, Attipoe who is a Ghanaian citizen announced that the revenue authority under him collected around $5 million and 1.5 South Sudanese pounds.
He said South Sudan’s problem is the question of transparency and if fixed, South Sudan which is just around a 12-million people country can afford to pay its civil servants without problem.
“Look, this country is for South Sudanese, whether you like it or not. You jump to Australia, you jump to DC, and you say you are having other passport, but they still see you as a South Sudanese,” Attipoe said.
“You cannot go to other people’s countries and be glorifying yourself. You are not doing anybody any good; you are still a foreigner, and they will consider you so,” he added.
He further said that “the earlier people recognize that this is the only country you have, build and move this country forward the better; move this country forward from our selfish individual interests…for the betterment and for the future generation.”
“The non-oil revenues can pay salary every month and pay all the operation costs, then the oil revenue will be there for other issues,” Dr. Attipoe told Eye Radio in an exclusive interview.
“It’s all about being efficient and transparent in what we do, the moment we are efficient and transparent we will be able to settle all these issues.”
