Experts, local officials call for devolution of powers to local government

JUBA – South Sudan state government officials and experts have called on the national government to devolve political, administrative, and financial responsibilities to local bodies.

This call was made during a high-level forum summit on fiscal devolution and revenue management, in which participants adopted 33 recommendations that would address power devolution and wealth-sharing.

Concluding the four-day forum in Juba on Friday, Vice President for Economic Cluster, Dr. James Wani Igga, expressed optimism for the resolutions and urged the different levels of government to contribute to their implementation.

“I have seen the resolutions, very attractive indeed. They are very beautiful, let us make them beautiful in implementation,” he said.

For his part, Deputy Governor of Central Equatoria state, Paulino Lukudu, appealed to the national government to abide by the constitution and to avoid collecting taxes meant for the states.

“The state government has been in a very volatile situation that requires more devolution of resources. We’ve been facing a lot of challenges as a state government,” Lukudu said.

“We have been calling for the respect of the constitution. As a state government, we respect what is being identified as the sources of the revenue by the national government with respect to the constitution, especially Article 177,” he said.

Lukudu believes that if the just-concluded recommendations are implemented, the state governments would be able to deliver much-wanted services to the people and bring an end to border encroachment.

“We are talking of the devolution of the resources or devolution of the taxes to the state,” he said.

“This is a very good opportunity that we need to industrialize and also go for modern mechanized farming so that we diversify the economy.”

Mrs. Anita Kiki Gbeho, the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), said fiscal devolution and effective revenue management are critical to the stability and prosperity of any country.

“One issue underscored is that while legal frameworks exist, governing the different sectors of the economy and effective implementation is still a challenge,” Gbeho said.

“The road ahead requires continued collaboration and innovation across all levels of government,” she noted.

The fourth high-level forum summit to shed light on fiscal devolution and revenue management in the country commenced on Tuesday and was graced by Vice President Dr. James Wani Igga.

The initiative, under the permanent constitution-making process, is to discuss aspects of federalism such as fiscal federalism and wealth-sharing that cascade down to revenue management as part of wealth.

The event was organized by the Council of States in partnership with UNMISS and UNDP. It drew together stakeholders like National Ministries of Petroleum, Federal Affairs, and Finance, policymakers, members of civil society and lawmakers, academia, and the National Constitutional Review Commission.