A public Hearing on the 2023-2024 Budget commenced at the national parliament on Monday, attended by stakeholders including civil societies, media, lawyers, people with disabilities, religious groups, doctor's unions and think-tank groups. |📸Obaj Okuj/Eye Radio

Stakeholders at the public hearing on the draft 2023-2024 budget have expressed dissatisfaction with the proposed budget saying it has no gesture of goodwill.

They have blamed the cabinet for allegedly failing to create a budget that adequately addresses the needs of the people.

The stakeholders raised the concerns during a public hearing on the fiscal year budget of 2023-2024 moderated by the national parliament.

During the public debate on Monday, July 17, 2023, civil society activists, academics, the union of doctors, lawyers, clerics, and people with disabilities had the opportunity to express their views on the budget.

Addressing the discussion, Edmund Yakani, the Executive Director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization has appealed to lawmakers to improve the wage of civil servants.

“I would like to appeal to our honourable members of the parliament that wages should be a priority when you say 400 per cent increment, 400 per cent of what?” Yakani said.

“We really want to see that our civil servants’ wages are improved, because if you want to services to be delivered, you have to reduce corruption. if our civil servants’ salaries remain as low as now, corruption will remain there.”

Augustino Odu, the Chairperson Union of Persons with Disabilities urged lawmakers to prioritize an inclusive budget that caters to the needs of persons with disabilities.

Odu also calls for the full implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

“I have gone through the bill because I cannot access it because is not in braille, so I am asking if is there an envelope allocated to disseminate the UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities which was ratified on 24^th of February if not I am appealing that please allocate a budget for the dissemination and implementation of this document,” said Odu.

On their part, the representative of the National Doctors Union is also demanding an allocation of finance for importing medicines.

Dr Anthony Garang says the country does not buy medicines but relies on donors and humanitarian organizations.

“This country does not buy a single medicine not even a paracetamol, we are relying on donors and what the donors give us is not actually enough for the people,” Garang said.

“I am calling on the national parliament and citizens here to join me to say we need more money to buy medicines.”

“Medicine is what would keep the population healthy and the population will be productive and we will have a good economic in the country without this we would just have an ill nation and unproductive nation.”

Meanwhile, a civil activist says that the executive and legislative organs of the government should drop taxes on food products such as salt, milk, cooking oil, and flour.

“You look at salt, milk formula, liquid and powder, beans, maize and wheat flour and cooking oil, the inspection service fee being charged by National Bureau of Standards and National Revenue Authority as you see in the bill,” said David.

“We are proposing that all this should be dropped. Why should they be dropped? They should be dropped because these are basic necessities that the ordinary citizens require for survival.”

“For example; formula milk is living saving commodity and vital for infant growth especially where the mother doesn’t have breast milk. Therefore, taxing such commodities make them expensive and far from the reach of the majority of our population.”

Another activist further calls on lawmakers to allocate a pension budget, to retired elderly employees in government and provide opportunities to young people.

Kounda David James spoke during the public hearing in Juba on Monday, July 17, 2023.

“The problem with the pension is the older people who are not leaving their positions for the young ones because there’s no pension,” David said.

“How are you going to get better future leaders for this country if the young ones cannot get the opportunity to learn from the old to take our forward?”

“The issues of pension should be seriously considered in our national budget so that our elderly that we honoured and respect can be given something and go home and the young one takes those seats.”

Meanwhile, the head of the Workers’ Union in South Sudan criticized the allocation of fifty billion pounds towards the implementation of peace.

Instead, Mouna Jieng called for allocating these funds to the security sector, which he says would facilitate the establishment of security and reduce conflicts.

As for the upcoming elections, a representative of the Sud Institute called on legislators and the government to increase the budget allocated for the elections.

“Our government should demonstrate its commitment towards the roadmap and the agreement as a whole there will be a need for allocation for the two processes of 200 million dollars whether this comes from this budget or its source elsewhere that will be needed for two objectives to be realized,” Tiny said.

However, some members of criticized the executive branch of the government for their failure to create a budget that adequately addresses the needs of the people.

Hon. Peter Lomole, a member of the Transitional Legislative Assembly described the new salary structure in the proposed budget as unrealistic.

“The issues of salaries a number of people talked about and we believed what comes from the Cabinet was not realistic,” Lomole said.

“If you say 400% increment for a private who received 2,500 is almost 10,000 and a bag of maize flour in the market 60,000.”

“The parliament is very serious on the issues of salaries and we want at least to allocate something that brings food to the table.”

“We want to assure you the problem of the salaries is not the program of the parliament is the cabinet, it is the executive that’s the problem and this must be made very clear.”

“We must clear this misinformation that it’s the parliament that is the problem.”

For his part, the spokesperson of parliament, John Agany says they will not accept the lower salaries for civil servants.

“We are not going to accept any salaries which are not sustainable to our people, we do not accept that, and we are not going to accept that,” Agany said.

“The government of the day is the government of the people and should be the government for the people and with the people.”

“Now, if the government can’t address the simple life of a simple man in the village and the bread is not on the table, then definitely you will call this gov’t is a failed gov’t and for that matter, it doesn’t function,” Agany said.

Meanwhile, Nhial Bol, the chairperson of the Specialized Committee for Livestock and Fisheries called on stakeholders to hold parliament accountable so that the MPs put pressure on the executive.

“It’s not the problem of the parliament because we have all the rate cards for the collections but the skin of slaughter who among you is not eating fish or meat daily. I think all of us are consuming is it not an income?

“I think the Ministry of Livestock should have been next to petroleum if really we observed it because we are not drinking fuel every day.”

“We need enough pressure if you [stakeholders] pressure us, we will pressure others and then we will find an answered.”

The public hearing served as a platform for various stakeholders to voice their concerns and provide valuable input on the budget, with the hope of achieving a more comprehensive and responsive financial plan that truly addresses the needs of the people.