South Sudan officials deny selling passports at exorbitant prices

South Sudan’s Directorate of Civil Registry, Nationality, Passport and Immigration officials have dismissed allegation that they are extorting the public by selling ordinary passports at 200 U.S dollars.

Lt.Col Philip Kuch Manyuon, the Director for Finance at the Directorate of Civil Registry, Nationality, Passport and Immigration, said they have different prices for passports according to category.

For example, he said the business passport costs 250 dollars and the ordinary passport is still going for 100 dollars.

“People will go out with preconceived idea that we are selling passports for 250 dollars, ordinary passport is 100 dollars, we have diplomatic passport at 200 dollars, and a minor passport is 50 dollars,” Manyuon told journalists in Juba on Saturday.

He said the charges are regulated by the Financial Act, 2022/23.

“We are working under the law, we have Passport and Immigration Act 2011, and when it comes to the terms of payment and prices we use the Financial Act 2022/23,” Manyuon said.

Manyuon was responding to Edmund Yakani, the Executive Director for Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO).

Yakani alleged last week that some immigration officials are selling passport booklets for over 200 US dollars in the black market.

“Our directorate of immigration has run out of passport booklets, but some citizens in the directorate of immigration have access to passport booklets that they are selling to citizens at black market rate of 200 dollars,” he said.

Johnny Boul, the Director for Moral Orientation, Information and Public Relation in Immigration department, said the current shortage of passport booklets is due to an outstanding debt amounting to 1.7 million dollars owed to Muehlbauer, a German-based Company.

 “As soon as the payment is done, we will receive 212,000 passport booklets. We have different passports, business passport, diplomatic passport, official passport, and special passport,” he said.