Manyo County in Upper Nile state protesting against County's Commissioner April 6, 2022 - Courtesy

More than 100 youths have protested against the decision of authorities in Manyo County of Upper Nile state banning unauthorized youth from collecting revenue in the area.

The seasonal revenue collection was introduced before the independence of the country.

It allows state government revenue collection agencies to collect a specific amount from cattle herders who cross from Sudan to graze their animals in Manyo County.

The County commissioner says some youth in the area who are not government employees have been engaged in the collection of revenue.

This, according to Peter Awon, prompted his administration to cancel the revenue collection process in Manyo.

He then assigned only government employees to carry out the revenue collection exercise in the area.

Peter says the new move angered some youth and they marched to the County headquarters yesterday, protesting against the decision.

“Of course, they are used to it, and we were trying to take into account their living conditions, as is the condition in South Sudan in general,” Awon told Eye Radio.

“We said they are our youths and they must be given a job by all means although it was wrong from the beginning for you to assign somebody who is not a government employee.

“You give him a government form and it’s very difficult for you to hold him accountable, he can run away with the form or the revenue, how can you hold him accountable and he is not staying, they are coming from Sudan.”

Peter Awon added that the activity of seasonal revenue collections has been a challenge for many years as it has a negative impact on the entire county.

He however says the exercise has disrupted the education of young people in the area, because they prefer collecting the revenue.

“We were complimenting them to help them because most of them are students, but they misinterpreted our consideration,”

“Most of them left schools because for this seasonal revenue collection, they were students but they can’t go back to school because this has affected the entire community.”

Eye Radio was not able to reach youth representatives for comment.