Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The Director-General of the Customs Department, Akol Ayii Madut, said the department will audit banks to recover money from oil exporters that defaulted on their payments.
In a video shared by the South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation’s (SSBC) news anchor and editor, Garang John Madut said the arrangement to allow the oil exporters to pay levees in Juba was not effective and had translated into losses.
“We are going to do some law enforcement with some auditing in those banks to see what are actually [causing] the losses,” he said.
“You will be paying your money directly. So, we are giving you a time from 8:00 in the morning to noon. That is for the oil products that are coming to South Sudan. We have been allowing you for the truck to proceed to Juba [so that] you come and make the payment after 24 hours, but now it has gone to a certain level.”
He stressed that the department had set a trap by setting a new rule of letting oil transporters pay in banks and only present receipts to their offices.
“You will pay your money either by banker’s cheques or authenticated cheques that show that your account in the certain bank has the money because now this thing has been happening for the last two years and is used by most of the clearing agents, mostly in Nimule,” the customs boss said.
He disclosed that after conducting investigations, the department learned that some companies were deliberately avoiding paying their taxes.
Madut stressed that the institution would continue charging the old rates on merchandise until a consensus is reached between the National Revenue Authority and Customs Department.
“As per now as a business community, and the agents in Nimule, we are reverting to our old rate effective today until some consensus are reached,” he added.
Last month, South Sudan and Kenya struck a deal to have South Sudan-bound cargo at the Nairobi Terminal instead of Mombasa.
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