Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The Minister of Finance, Agak Achuil Lual, on Wednesday, tabled the fiscal year 2021/2022 budget to the parliament. The total expenditure proposed for the Fiscal Year 2021–2022 is SSP287 billion.
Out of this total, SSP84.1 billion which represents 29.3 per cent is meant for wages and salaries, SSP 82.9 billion, which represents 16.2 per cent is for goods and services, SSP 46.5 billion which represents 16.2 per cent is earmarked for other capital expenditure.
Meanwhile, SSP 15.0 billion which represents 5.2 per cent of the budget, has been earmarked for peace implementation, and SSP 6.4 billion which represents 2.2 per cent is for contingency for unforeseen circumstances.
Therefore, out of the 10 sectors that have been covered by the budget, the accountability sector only received SSP1.8 billion which represents 0.6 per cent of the budget.
This SSP of 1.8 billion is expected to facilitate the activities of accountability work in the institutions. In reality, the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Audit Chamber are some of the expected beneficiaries of this money, which in the real sense is not enough. This may only facilitate the operation costs and other minor activities.
According to the South Sudan Audit Chamber Act (2011), the institution is supposed to examine, verify, inquire into, audit, and report on the accounts of the executive, the assembly, and the judiciary.
It is also mandated to audit the accounts of the states, local governments, independent commissions, public institutions, commercial corporations, public funds, and any other institutions.
This is a great task that, when properly fulfilled, will promote accountability and transparency. The Audit Chamber may have to hire international and professional experts to assist in doing the job.
Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption Commission is also required to fight corruption in public institutions and needs adequate resources to conduct its activities, such as hiring investigators and defence lawyers in case the suspect is needed in court.
Recently, Transparency International, an international non-governmental organisation based in Germany, which defines corruption as the misuse of public power for private benefit, ranked South Sudan as the most corrupt country in the world.
The country has been at the bottom of the index for two years in a row. In the 2021 report, South Sudan remained at the bottom of the list with a score of 11, followed by Syria (13) and Somalia (13).
Hence, the allocation of only 0.6 per cent in the national budget sounds like a big joke in the fight against corruption. It is impossible to sustain the fight against corruption without enough resources.
The resource envelope allocation for the sector demonstrates the country’s little commitment to fighting these vices that have infested the public sector.
The standing specialised committee at the parliament should consider increasing the budget allocated to the accountability sector or else a supplementary budget needs to be created is serious in fighting corruption.
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