Louis Lobong, Governor of Eastern Equatoria State – Photo Courtesy of the Office of the President

The Governor of Eastern Equatoria criticized the revitalized peace agreement for further centralizing power, leaving the state increasingly desperate for the autonomy essential to effectively manage its resources.

Governor Louis Lobong addressed the Fourth High-Level Forum on Fiscal Devolution and Revenue Management, a key component of the Permanent Constitution-Making Process in Juba, on Tuesday, November 2024.

The Governor of Eastern Equatoria reports that the state receives no revenue from border collections and vehicle registration fees.

He emphasized that although the resource management forums and governors’ meetings have produced numerous resolutions, there has been no progress in implementation.

“This is not the first time we talked about managing our resources, we talked about devolution of powers and resources to the state. We have talked several times, we have raised issues in governor forums and implementation is zero,” Lobong stated.

“The R-ARCSS has made things worse at the state level, the power has been more centralized than before,” he said.

“The ARCSS came with the issue of devolution of the power and resources to the counties and states, but it has turned the opposite. I believe this forum will be able to do something,” he said.

Governor Lobong expressed concern over the numerous contradictions in-laws and violations of the constitution, remarking that no one seems to be taking these issues seriously.

“The whole issue is an institution, whether at the state or at national, they make their policies, they prepare their tax policies and take it to the council of ministers and passed in parliament,” he said.

“Nobody monitors tax policies from this particular institution, especially the South Sudan Revenue Authority. There have been a lot of contradictions, and violations of our constitution and nobody bothered about it,” he stated.

The Governor urged the resource management forum to clearly delineate the roles and responsibilities of the states, emphasizing the need to ensure that adequate resources are allocated to both state and local governments.

“This is the right time for us to know whether we want to deliver the services to our people or take the powers and resources of states without bothering about the local authorities and states,” he stated.

“The council of states representing the states should look at this particular concern and to see the roles and responsibilities of the states and ensure that resources are going to states and local governments, and it’s not too late, maybe this forum will do something,” said Governor Lobong.

Key government officials present at the opening of the forum included Mary Ayen, the first deputy Speaker of the Council of States, the Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr Marial Dongrin, the Minister of Federal Affairs, Lasuba Wongo, the Governor of Upper Nile, and Eastern Equatoria—James Odhok, Louis Lobong, and the Deputy Governor of Central Equatoria, Paulino Lukudu.

Also, in attendance were the chairperson of the National Constitution Review Commission, Dr Riang Yer Zuor, a representative from Western Bahr el Ghazal State and officials from the Ruweng Administrative Area.

The forum on Fiscal Devolution and Revenue Management was organized by the Council of States in collaboration with the Ministries of Finance and Planning, and Petroleum, with support from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).