Money spent on one VP could employ 1,000 civil servants, claims Agany
A member of parliament in the Reconstituted Transitional National Legislative Assembly lamented the high expenditure the government incurs in maintaining the offices of five vice presidents.
John Agany, who is also the assembly’s spokesperson, said the current government is using a lot of resources that could have been used for service delivery for the citizens.
“The little money we have from the oil has been exhaustlessly used on all those five vice presidents. If you go now to the minister of finance and ask, how much is paid to one of them?” he said.
Agany claimed that the money being spent by one vice president could pay 1,000 government employees.
He stated that the current government is bloated, both at national and state levels, and has limited service provisions to the citizens.
“Where on earth do you have the five vice presidents who are actually spending a lot of money on the basis of the government that they are the members,” he asked.
According to Agany, South Sudanese should stop rebellion to avoid stopgap conflict resolutions forcing the restructuring of the government to accommodate politicians for the sake of peace.
“The problem is also with us, when the politicians get up to fight, the people join him (them) which is exhausting a lot of our resources like this parliament of 650. Who brought them? It’s you, people.”
He said the country is mainly relying on the crude oil for its revenue and the recurrent expenditure forms a huger chunk of what can actually be raised.
“We have to put a mechanism in place so that the money collected and oil money can be enough for all of us,” he said.
“Our people should not be lazy…we need to cultivate so that we come out of all those crimes.”
Mid-week, President Salva Kiir also reiterated his displeasure with the structure that accommodates five deputy presidents.
Kiir argued that election was the only medicine to remedy the problem by ensuring that the country sheds off the baggage of a bloated presidency that, according to him, slows down decision making.
