South Sudan’s Ministerial High-Level Committee on Economic Reform has begun a two-day assessment of revenue collection at Juba International Airport, amid government efforts to increase income and address mounting economic pressures.
The committee met officials from the South Sudan Civil Aviation Authority, the South Sudan Revenue Authority, customs, trade and immigration departments on Thursday.
James Mawich Makuach, the committee’s rapporteur and Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, said the assessment is aimed at establishing how revenue is collected at the country’s main international airport.
“The objective of the mission is to come and assess the status of the revenue collection in Juba International Airport,” Mawich told the media after the meeting on Thursday.
He said the committee had received briefings from the Civil Aviation Authority and other institutions involved in revenue collection at the airport.
“We have also listened to the presentation from the Revenue Authority, the Customs Department in Juba International Airport, and also from trade, migration and other agencies that are related to revenue collection,” he said.
Mawich described the airport as an important source of government revenue and said the committee wanted to compare information from the different institutions responsible for collecting fees, taxes and other charges.
“Juba International Airport is one of the important entrants that is also generating the revenue to the Republic of South Sudan,” he said.
But it remains unclear how much revenue is generated at the airport each year, how much is collected by the different government agencies, and how much is ultimately transferred to the national treasury.
Mawich said the assessment would continue on Friday, after which the committee would prepare a report outlining its findings, challenges and recommendations.
“After the assessment we will compile our comprehensive report that will contain the achievements, the challenges and also the recommendations,” he said.
The review comes as the government faces severe financial pressures, including difficulties in paying public-sector salaries and providing basic services.
The economic reform committee, chaired by Minister of East African Community Affairs General Pieng Deng Kuol, was established in July to coordinate government efforts to improve domestic revenue collection and address wider economic problems.
Its work has included examining tax and customs collection, illegal charges and checkpoints along major trade routes, fuel supplies, electricity costs and other factors affecting the economy.
One of its major areas of focus has been the Juba-Nimule trade corridor, where the public has raised concerns about multiple charges and the collection of money by institutions not legally mandated to collect revenue.
The committee’s interventions have so far largely involved inspections, directives and coordination between government institutions.
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