Africa-Press – South-Sudan. Civil servants in Jonglei State have threatened to sue the state accounting officer after he only paid salaries for ministries.
The Secretary-General of the Jonglei State Workers’ Trade Union (JSWTU), Samuel Majier Loch, has said only the ministries of public service, education, and health had received their full salaries with allowances on Friday.
He said all the staff working in other ministries have not been paid yet.
Majier demanded answers from the accounting officer as to why other ministries had not paid their workers.
“We are going to ask the accounting officer on Monday (today) about the other institutions,” he said, adding that his response would determine their next step.
“If he says there is no money, we are going to take another step because we heard some rumours that money is not there,” he stated.
“If there is money, then maybe the other institutions will be paid on Monday, but if there is no money, we cannot go to the street this time; we are going to sue the accounting officer in court,” Majier threatened.
The Jonglei Trade Union boss said the Minister for Public Service, Joseph Bangasi Bakosoro, and the state government recognised their position, but added that the major problem they found was a lack of money.
“The minister agreed with us and even the government recognised our position, but the issue is that there is no money,” he said.
Finance minister suspended
Last Monday, the governor of Jonglei State, Denay Jock Chagor, suspended the state minister for finance after he issued a controversial statement about the strike.
Wiyual Gatkuoth Changath was suspended indefinitely in a gubernatorial order No. 3, 2022 A.D, on February 14, 2022, but the reason for his suspension was not cited in the order, which was the same as the duration of the suspension, which was not indicated.
“I, Denay Jock Chagor, governor of Jonglei State, do hereby issue the gubernatorial decree for the suspension of Hon Wiyual Gatkuoth Changath, as the Minister of Finance, Planning and Investment in Jonglei State, with the effect from February 14, 2022 AD,” read the statement.
On February 12, 2022, Changath released a statement and accused media houses of making false reports about the strike.
“I want to make this clear to the people of Jonglei State and the people of South Sudan that, the purpose of the demonstration in Bor is not about the 100 per cent salary increase of the civil servants ordered by the President of the Republic,” Changath said.
“The demonstrators are demanding the new salary structure, which includes a new allowance called the “nature of work allowance.” After being studied by the Ministry of Finance and Planning in Juba, it was found out to be more than 100 per cent pledged by the president, and this structure was put on hold as it increases the current (2020/2021) budget by more than 100 percent.”
The minister said the governor had reversed his promise to pay the nature of work allowance to civil servants through local revenue. This was because of the crisis in the state which necessitated that it be used to fund security and other state government operations.
“The current crisis in Jonglei is the imposition of a new salary structure whose calculation does not match the 100 per cent increase, and that was put on hold by the above resolution. They (government) ordered the governor of Jonglei to give them (civil servants) the nature of work allowance from the local revenue.”
“This part pledged by the governor is what the governor has reversed. This local revenue can not only be used for the security of the state but also for government functions, “he added.
The chairman of the Jonglei Civil Servants Network, Bol Deng Bol, termed the minister’s statement as restraining the rights of civil servants.
“The minister’s statement was controversial. It was too political for him and more of a downplaying of the rights of civil servants,” Bol said.
The national minister for public service and human resource development, Joseph Bangasi Bakosoro, last week visited Bor, the capital of Jonglei State and asked the state government to pay civil servants their full salaries and allowances according to the state workers’ trade union.
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