Governor of Eastern Equatoria State Louis Lobong Lojore said the centralisation of the resources at the national and state levels hinders services delivery to grassroots people.

Lobong called on the national government to send a reasonable amount of money to the state where there is a large population with a majority who are at the poverty line.

He said increasing the fund at the state level would end the suffering of the citizens right from the grassroots level.  

“States are facing financial challenges, particularly in meeting the high demands of the government partnership that brought about by the Peace Agreement. We need to know even the percentage that the central government is disbursing to the states,” said Lobong during the governors’ forum in Juba yesterday.

 “People are asking tough questions that we, at the state level, are unable to answer. At least salaries should be increased and paid regularly to the civil servants,”  added.

Lobong said the state government is doing all it takes to move the state toward a path of sustainable peace and stability as well as development.

The governors’ forum advocates the creation of conditions needed for governance and service delivery to be centred on people as beneficiaries.

The Fifth Governors’ Forum is expected to come up with strong resolutions and recommendations, and its implementation will be monitored by the Ministry of Presidential Affairs.

Earlier this month, Lobong had committed to working with all the stakeholders to maintain security in the state during the recent state government conference in Torit.

The conference brought together all the Eastern Equatoria State politicians, both in Juba and Torit, to strengthen peace and development in the state.

His statement came a day after he protested a claim by the Vice President of Service Cluster Hussein Abdelbaggi that some governors had diverted funds meant for state schools to other areas.  

Lobong acknowledged that an issue had been raised over rechanneling of funds by the Ministry of Education and Instruction, but using a blanket condemnation was not the right way, because according to him, not all governors are guilty.

 “This is spoiling the names of the states, spoiling the names of governors [whether it is true] or not.” There may be one state now, but it has been written as if there are all governors. This is already making donors fear giving money to the states. So, for me, this is blackmailing and it might be in some counties, not even all,” Lobong stressed.