South Sudan introduces digital payment system for passports after supply crisis

JUBA — South Sudan has introduced a fully digital payment system for passports and other immigration documents, ending cash transactions at immigration offices after weeks of passport shortages that exposed persistent governance failures and weaknesses in the country’s digital public infrastructure.

Authorities say the reform is intended to curb revenue leakages, dismantle informal practices surrounding passport issuance and stabilise the supply of travel documents, which has repeatedly been disrupted by unpaid arrears, manual processes and weak institutional oversight.

Speaking at the resumption of passport and national ID issuance in Juba on Monday, the Commissioner General of the National Revenue Authority (NRA), William Anyuon Kuol, said cash payments at immigration offices had been abolished and replaced with a bank-linked digital system designed to reduce human discretion in revenue handling.

“The Director General of Immigration does not need to see money. Our staff deployed here are also not mandated to handle cash. What they will see is a receipt from the bank,” Anyuon said.

Under the new arrangement, applicants will continue to complete the standard paperwork required for passports and national identity cards, but all payments will be made digitally through a commercial bank operating inside the immigration compound.

The system automatically generates an invoice and links the bank receipt to the immigration database, allowing officers to process applications without directly handling cash.

“From today onwards, anyone coming for a passport or national ID will go through the digital system,” Anyuon said, adding that immigration and revenue officials had already been trained to operate the platform, which he said was supported by European Union services.

The move follows a supply crisis that saw passport booklets run out for months, leaving thousands of applicants unable to travel and triggering public anger. South Sudan later received 10,000 new passports after clearing outstanding debts to suppliers, allowing services to resume.

Anyuon said the shortages were partly the result of manual cash collection, which made it difficult to ensure that revenues collected for passport production were ring-fenced and transferred to suppliers on time.

“After we collected money manually, it was used elsewhere. That is why passports stopped coming,” he said.

However, several officials familiar with immigration operations told Sudans Post that the crisis reflected deeper structural problems that extended beyond delayed payments. According to the officials, passport booklets were often informally divided among officers upon arrival, particularly during periods when salaries were delayed or unpaid.

The officials said some officers sold passports on the black market to supplement income, weakening central control over issuance and undermining national security controls. They added that the presence of passport booklets in the hands of individual officers made it possible for people barred from travel — including fugitives and individuals banned by the government — to renew or obtain passports through personal connections.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the lack of a real-time, integrated digital system made it difficult to track how many passports were issued, to whom, and on what legal basis. This, they said, created space for abuse, political interference and selective enforcement.

Anyuon dismissed this claim of a black market operating inside immigration offices, arguing that the new digital system removes opportunities for mismanagement by eliminating cash handling and strengthening transaction traceability.

He acknowledged, however, that complaints had been received from citizens who paid for documents but never received them.

He said those records would be verified and uploaded into the new system before documents are issued, warning officials against manipulating data.

“No one should change or backdate data. We must be serious and transparent,” he said.

According to the NRA, revenues collected under the new system will now be shared directly with passport suppliers and relevant institutions, reducing the risk of future arrears and service disruptions. Anyuon said the success of the reform would depend on coordination across government agencies and sustained political support.

“Reform is not done in one day and not by one person. It is a collective responsibility,” he said.

The rollout of digital passport payments comes amid a broader government push to digitise public services, as South Sudan grapples with fragile institutions, limited fiscal space and widespread mistrust in state systems following years of conflict.

In November, the government launched a biometric registration exercise for public servants in Juba aimed at eliminating so-called ghost workers from the payroll and strengthening oversight of public spending. Officials said the initiative was designed to clean up personnel records and improve transparency in public administration.

Analysts, however, have noted that South Sudan still lacks a national digital identity system, forcing the government to rely on fragmented biometric databases rather than interoperable digital public goods that could support identity verification across sectors.

The government has also ordered state institutions to digitize services by January 2026, warning ministries and agencies that continue to rely on manual records and cash transactions that resistance to digital transformation will no longer be tolerated.

Together, these initiatives reflect growing recognition within government that manual systems have enabled corruption, exclusion and inefficiency, particularly in revenue-generating services such as passports, licenses and permits, where human discretion has often substituted for clear rules and automated controls.

Presidential Adviser on Special Programmes Adut Salva Kiir said the Office of the President intervened after passport services were suspended to ensure their resumption and continuity. She described passports as symbols of national identity, sovereignty and security.

“Our passports do not only represent our personal identity. They stand for our sovereignty as a country and our national security,” she said.

She added that the government had partnered with a private company to clear outstanding debts related to passport production, while future payments would be managed under the digital system to prevent further disruptions and ensure predictability in supply.

Adut acknowledged widespread public frustration over delays, overcrowding and poor conditions at immigration offices and appealed for patience as the reforms take effect.

“I am aware of every single grievance that has been forwarded, and we will take care of each problem one at a time,” she said.

Digital governance experts say the shift to digital payments is a necessary but limited step toward building digital public infrastructure (DPI) — the foundational systems that enable governments to deliver services at scale, including digital identity, payments and interoperable data registries.

In South Sudan’s case, the absence of a trusted digital ID layer means immigration systems still rely heavily on human discretion, paper documentation and fragmented databases, increasing vulnerability to fraud and political influence even as payments are digitized.

Without complementary reforms — such as data protection laws, independent oversight, salary regularization for frontline officers and integration with civil registration systems — analysts warn that digital platforms risk replicating old problems in new formats rather than delivering inclusive, accountable public services.

For now, authorities say the passport payment reform is designed to restore basic functionality and credibility to a service that has become synonymous with delays, informal fees and uncertainty.

“If everything is put in the system, there will be no need for people to say there is no passport. Everybody will get a passport and nationality,” Anyuon said.

Why South Sudan’s digital shift is harder than it looks

South Sudan’s move to digitize passport payments is the kind of reform that sounds simple on paper but becomes complicated once it meets the realities of a fragile state. Cashless payments can reduce petty bribery at service counters and improve traceability, but they do not automatically fix the deeper political economy of service delivery, where access to documents, jobs, and protections is often controlled through networks rather than rules.

In a system where officers are unpaid or paid late, incentives shift from professionalism to survival, and “leakages” become embedded, not incidental. That is why a digital payment layer alone may curb some cash handling, yet still leave space for manipulation in the issuance process if passport stocks, approvals, and identity checks remain vulnerable to internal capture.

Corruption is only one part of the problem. South Sudan’s constraints are structural with limited electricity and connectivity outside major towns; weak banking penetration; low digital literacy; and a fragmented administrative system that relies on paper records and discretionary approvals.

Even when a digital platform exists, it can become a new gatekeeping tool if the underlying institutions are not accountable. If an officer controls the database entry, the queue, or the “verification” stage, the bottleneck can simply move from cash payment to data approval.

Meanwhile, the absence of strong data protection rules and oversight bodies increases public fear that digitisation is about surveillance or political filtering rather than service improvement. In such an environment, trust is as important as technology.

The biggest DPI gap remains identity. In countries with functioning digital public infrastructure, digital payments are plugged into reliable identity and civil registration systems, making it harder to obtain documents outside formal procedures.

South Sudan still lacks a unified national digital ID that is interoperable across immigration, civil registry, banking, payroll, and law enforcement. As a result, biometric or digital systems often operate as isolated “projects” rather than national public goods.

That fragmentation allows loopholes. For example, if a person is restricted in one database but not flagged across systems, they may still access services through other channels, especially when networks and discretion override automated controls.

Kenya offers a useful comparison — not because it is perfect, but because it shows what changes when the building blocks exist. Kenya’s digital economy is anchored by widespread mobile money usage, mature agent networks, and stronger integration between payments and everyday services.

Even with political disputes over digital identity and privacy, Kenya has the state capacity to run large-scale platforms, maintain payment rails, and enforce compliance through institutions with reach.

In contrast, South Sudan is trying to digitize in an environment where the “rails” are weak, characterized by low liquidity, limited banking infrastructure, unstable revenue flows, and frequent governance interruptions caused by conflicts. The result is that digital reforms often depend on political backing and external support, and they can stall the moment budgets or security conditions shift.

Across East Africa, the trend is that governments are investing in DPI to increase revenue, formalize service delivery, and reduce corruption, from digital tax systems to e-government portals. Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania have expanded digital public services at varying speeds, often pairing them with broader reforms in civil registration, payments, and public administration.

South Sudan risks falling further behind if digitisation remains piecemeal. The passport payment reform is a good start, but progress will depend on whether it becomes part of a coherent national DPI strategy — one that links identity, payments, registries, and accountability — and whether the state tackles the political and economic incentives that make corruption rational for officials and unavoidable for citizens