by bssBSS Governor inspects Wau Branch
By Chance Baniko: Central Bank’s Governor and the accompanying delegation arrived Wau to a rapturous welcome. The Governor, Hon. Dier Tong then proceeded to a meeting hall with the branch manager Mr. Tong Akech who officially welcomed the team to Wau branch.
The branch manager commended the Governor for having won the trust of the President to the top job. “Even if your appointment comes at a difficult time, thanks for maintaining a stable monitory policy, Tong Akech said.” The branch manager also commended the Governor for strong decisions taken as he assumed office, like the cancellation of dollar approvals going to individuals. This has stabilized the economy, he said.
The Governor said he came to share the vision, mission and core objectives of the bank contained in the strategic plan with Wau branch, and to listen to challenges the branch is facing. “Challenges are natural. There are things which we can immediately solve, and others may have to wait to be solved.”
“Our mandate as the BSS is to ensure price stability, financial system stability, and an efficient payment system,” the Governor expounded. “To succeed we must be bound by values,” he stressed. Values of transparency are very important to us. Decisions we take like promotions, transfers, monetary policy are done transparently.
“We also want to preach accountability to staff, the Governor stressed.” Roles and responsibilities must be well defined and understood by all staff, he said. We have so far developed job descriptions for the institution which is now being cascaded to the level of individuals for accountability purposes.
Other values like efficiency, professionalism, team work are encouraged amongst staff and the whole institution to achieve strategic objectives set in the strategic plan.
On the challenges facing the branch, Tong said that there is need to have more staff to handle huge work at the branch. The branch is receiving deposits of between 30-50 million SSP daily. The onslaught of the rainy season creates leaking roof in the bank and exposes the branch to risks of electrical fires. Remedy should be found to address the problem.
On the other hand, the cost of bringing staff from Juba and then back again to Juba in terms of cost is very high.
Other challenges include lack of training for staff, non-existent devices for the bank security, security cameras not functioning, in addition to generators which are becoming old and problematic.