The President of Guinea-Bissau warned on Tuesday August 6 that from now on, all citizens must pay vehicle taxes to the Road Fund, even if it is a general fund, to help maintain public roads.
Umaro Sissoco Embaló went in person on Tuesday to the headquarters of the Road Fund, an institution linked to the Ministry of Public Works, to pay the tax on five of his personal vehicles.
“These vehicles are mine, they don’t belong to the state, I’ve come to pay the Road Fund, as citizen Umaro Sissoco Embaló,” said the Guinean Head of State.
The Road Fund is subsidized by a tax paid for the use of public roads and bridges. However, in recent years, it has been neglected by citizens due to the poor state of the country’s main access routes.
The Guinean President said that this situation had changed as a result of the interventions made by his government in various areas of the country, particularly, he said, in Bissau.
“If Umaro Sissoco Embaló, who is President of the Republic, has paid (his dues) to the Road Fund, there is no other citizen who won’t”, he warned.
The measure only exempts hospital ambulances and agents of the defense and security forces on duty, he noted.
The Guinean President urged the management of the Road Fund to reactivate, as of Wednesday, all the tolls that exist in the country, which are currently deactivated. “Even if you’re a general, if you’re in your private car you have to pay”, said Umaro Sissoco Embaló.