, Michael Ladu Allah-Jabu, has given the order to tax collectors to stop the unnecessary closing of shops.){kind=link}
The Mayor of Juba City Council (JCC), Michael Ladu Allah-Jabu, has given the order to tax collectors to stop the unnecessary closing of shops.
He directed the tax collectors to always issue a demand note for 7 days and if the trader fails to obey, the court will summon a business person or close the shop.
Mayor’s directive came during a meeting of the leadership of Juba City Council and the traders on Wednesday.
Traders raised concerns and presented their grievances to the leadership of the Juba City Council chaired by Mayor Allah-Jabu and his two deputies.
Some traders accused some JCC officials of applying brutality when collecting taxes including beating up traders and sometimes forcefully closing down their shops.
One businessman who chose to be named Abdallahi testifies that some shopkeepers are even charged for overstocking their shops with goods.
He claims Juba City Council tax collectors have been given too much power which they misuse when discharging their duties and levies unnecessary taxes on goods beyond the rate agreed upon.
Abdallahi calls on Juba City Mayor to make the rates schedule public and transparent to the traders and also enable them to know the fine or charges for each offense to reduce over-taxing.
Reacting to the traders’ complaints, Michael Ladu Allah-Jabu, the Juba City Council Mayor issued an order banning all unnecessary closures of business premises by tax collectors.
The Mayor of the Juba City Council directed the Chief Executive Officer for Administration to implement the rate schedules and make them public.
Michael Ladu Allah-Jabu urges the traders to always raise their grievances to their chairpersons instead of staging protests and demonstrations within the country.
He calls on foreign traders to resolve their problems in the office of the Juba City Council office rather than going to their Embassies or another level of government.
Last week, the foreign traders closed down their shops and businesses as a way of protesting against numerous taxes levied on their businesses by tax departments in the country.