East-Central African nation; South Sudan will now longer be issuing visas on arrival to Kenyans.
This development, is coming at a time when the nation is focusing on increasing the number of embassy applications and online visa applications in a bid to boost revenues and discourage any misappropriation.
Deng Dau Deng who is the Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister stated that the decision will guarantee the accountability of fees collected from visa applicants.
In the words of Deng Dau Deng, “This is just a normal routine; the Embassy in Nairobi will be issuing visas to those who are in need of entering South Sudan. There is also an E-Visa they can get through an online application. So it is just a normal procedure not specific to Kenyan natives.”
The Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister also said, “Most of the countries of the world are trying to move away from these [ordinary] visas being issued on arrival or providing stickers,” adding that the decision is also intended to help streamline the payment of revenues.
December of 2020 saw an increase of calls for the Civil Aviation Authority of South Sudan to be audited as a result of the emergence of numerous reports which stated that it was not remitting the funds generated at the Juba International Airport to the National Revenue Authority. The affected revenue generated included the immigration collections from visas issued on arrival at the Juba International Airport.
The concerns were followed by revelations by the Crisis Management Committee the establishment created to fix the nation’s falling economy. The revelations made it known that the Civil Aviation Authority was not remitting all of its tax collections to the National Treasury.
The Head of the cabinet level sub committee; Onyoti Adigo, believes that the millions of South Sudanese pounds being collected at the Juba International Airport were being mismanaged.
The statement by Onyoti Adigo occurred not long after his delegation visited the Juba International Airport to help put an end to the protests carried out by the airport’s aviation staff over unpaid arrears. The protests had disrupted international flights, as well as domestic flights.
The Director of Juba International Airport; Kur Kuol revealed that South Sudan’s Council of Ministers had authorized an order of payment to a company which constructed the airport terminals.
A report published by The Sentry in September of 2020 called; “The Taking of South Sudan”, accused the regional and international companies of making money off of the conflict in South Sudan.
The report by The Sentry also accused the family members of President Salva Kiir of creating alliances with British tycoons, Chinese-Malaysian oil giants, and a vast network of traders from Kenya, Eritrea, Uganda, and Ethiopia.
The Presidential Press Secretary; Ateny Wek Ateny has stated that the allegations are biased and do not have evidence to support them.
The United Nations Human Rights Commission had in October 2020, accused a number of politicians and senior government officials in South Sudan of embezzling at least 36 million dollars since 2016.
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