Sarah Cleto, governor of WBGS, in an interview with Eye Radio’s Emmanuel Akile at a hotel in Juba on Wednesday, July 22, 2020 | Credit | Nana Alfred/Eye Radio

The governor of Western Bahr el Ghazal State has stated that her government is unable to deliver services but rely on partners for assistance.

Sarah Cleto, who was appointed in June 2020, says she has not been able to meet the needs of the citizens due to a lack of budget.

South Sudan is yet to adopt any new budget since 2019.

The country’s financial year covers 12 months, which runs from 1 July to 30 June each year.

Although the minister of finance last year presented over 218 billion-pound budget estimates before the Council of Ministers, the same has not been done at the national parliament.

South Sudan’s national parliament does not exist. It has not been reconstituted as per the September 2018 revitalized peace deal.

In an exclusive interview with Eye Radio over the weekend, Governor Cleto said her state was depending on the private sector and the non-governmental organizations for support of government programs.

“Until now, there is no budget to operate with. There is no development budget but we partner with business people and partners like NGOs who are carrying out a lot of activities,” Ms Cleto stated.

Governor Cleto further said there is a need to streamline the collection of non-oil revenue across the 10 states – referring to transit goods such as commercial trucks passing through Western Bahr el Ghazal to other states.

It is already 3 months into the year, and South Sudan still does not have a functioning budget at the national and state levels.

Activists have urged the presidency to quickly dissolve and reconstitute the national legislature to pave way for the passing of the 2020/2021 Fiscal year budget.

The Ministry of Finance is expected to present such a budget not later than the 15 May of each financial year.