National Revenue Authority office in Juba | Credit | African Development Bank

A legislator of the yet-to-be reconstituted national parliament has told politicians to desist from interfering with the work of independent financial institutions.

Hon. Mary Kadi believes the elites use security officers to influence and control where public funds are deposited.

“The national security service must not be involved in any form or shape in its operations,” Hon Kadi argued.

In July, President Salva Kiir admitted that non-oil revenues were not being fully remitted into the single treasury account.

An investigation by the Economic Crisis Management Committee found that import taxes among others are still being channeled into private bank accounts.

It also discovered that $3.1 million had disappeared at the Directorate of Nationalities, Passport and Immigration.

The traffic police headquarters has also been accused of not accounting for funds collected through the issuance of number plates, licenses, and the logbooks.

In September, the United Nations Human Rights Commission revealed that some politicians and senior government officials have siphoned off at least $36 million from South Sudan since 2016.

A member of the national dialogue steering committee says the obstruction in independent institutions by the political class has partly contributed to the current economic challenges.

“We have observed that economic policy management has been the lowest, which is the worst-performing category for three years in a row since 2016,” Mary Kiden argued.

These institutions include the Ministry of Finance, Bank of South Sudan and the National Revenue Authority.

In 2019, South Sudan was ranked worst in the economic cost of violence, measured at 17 percent of GDP, plus an overall economic impact estimated at around $15.2 billion in East Africa.

Honorable Kiden called on the government to stimulate the economy by strengthening the private sector, initiate and promote public-private partnership projects.

This according to her requires physical policy, monitory and exchange rate policy and debt policy.