in brief: women jailed for failing to pay $7 tax in south sudan
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Five South Sudanese women from Aweil were jailed last week for being unable to pay a household tax of 30 South Sudanese pounds ($7 U.S). Two local chiefs were also stood down for failing to collect the tax from struggling residents.
The tax was introduced by the state assembly in January, to fill a revenue gap caused by the end of oil production in the country. One of the women, Nyirou Mou, 30, has been in jail since last Tuesday and says she doesn’t have enough money to pay the tax. ‘I don’t have anywhere where I can get the money for taxes. My children are small. They can’t do any work, such as cultivating gardens. My husband died and there is no one taking care of my kids except me. Where can I get the money from?’ she asked in a report from Voice of America.
According to the World Bank, 51% of people in South Sudan live below the poverty line. 72% of the population is below the age of thirty, and most households depend on agriculture to survive. The nation has been hard hit by heavy floods and bad harvests in the last year.
The Sudan Tribune reported on Monday that at least 15 people from South Sudan Unity state’s Payinjiar county have died from starvation following the floods. The hunger situation is affecting more than 70,000 people, and the UN’s access to the area has been compromised by the floods.
In Aweil, Mou believes she will be forced to stay in jail until someone she knows can take the money owed to the police station. Aweil East commissioner Awet Kiir Awet warned that police officers will continue to arrest residents who refuse to pay the tax.
