 Parliamentary Caucus on Sunday demand supplementary Year budget 2023/24 for uncompleted peace process.){kind=link}
South Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition (SPLM-IO) Parliamentary Caucus on Sunday demand supplementary Year budget 2023/24 for uncompleted peace process.
The lawmakers say the budget has not addressed key tasks in the peace Agreement as they receive inadequate allocations.
In a Press conference conducted in Juba on Sunday, the Deputy Chairman of the party and the First Deputy Speaker of South Sudan Parliament, Oyet Nathaniel Pierino says the Fiscal Year budget has not reflected the theme of the budget and the Independence Day Speech of the President.
The Deputy Speaker stated that this Year’s Fiscal budget is supposed to address the economy of the country and consolidate peace implementation to pave way for transparent and credible elections by the end of transitional period.
“The allocation of the Fiscal Year 2023/24 budget neither reflects the theme of the budget nor the Independence Day Speech of the President,” Oyet reads the statement.
Oyet reveals that the key areas that the budget has not addressed as they receive inadequate allocation include; Security Arrangement Phase 1 and 2, Repatriation and Resettlement of the Refugees, returnees, and Internally Displaced Persons, Population Census, Permanent Constitution-making Process, Transitional Justice and conduct of General Elections by the end of the roadmap.
The party urge the Minister of Finance Dier Tong Ngor to table a supplementary budget for the Fiscal Year 2023/24 to address the pending tasks of the Agreement
According to the First Deputy Speaker, failure to allocate resources for the implementation of these tasks may likely affect the roadmap including the conduct of Elections in 2024.
“In the light of the above, failure to allocate resources for the implementation of these critical issues may affect the Roadmap including the conduct of Elections by December 2024.”
This supplementary budget is meant to complete the remaining and pending tasks in the Revitalized Peace Agreement for the free conduct of democratic elections.
The lawmakers welcome the increment of the salaries and wages of Civil Servants and Organized Forces by 400%
However, the Caucus pointed out that the 400% increment in salaries and wages is not enough to cope with the current market prices.
They demand that the budget is increased beyond 400% but they didn’t not disclosed by how much it should have been increased to complete the pending tasks.
“We approve the increment of the salaries and wages of civil servants, military, and the organized forces by 400% however, it is not enough to cope with the current market prices. It should go beyond the 4 hundred percent,” Oyet proposed.
The SPLAM in Opposition recommends the allocation of an Electronic Payroll System to ensure payroll cleansing from ghost names as per the resolution of the Council of Ministers.
South Sudan leaders discussed the budget with a focus on the issue of the deficits and mechanisms to improve salaries of the civil servants, military and organized forces.
On Friday last week, the Presidency and members of different political parties held a meeting Chaired by President Salva Kiir to discuss mechanisms to address and improve the wages of Civil servants.