Sheila Ponnie
Africa-Press – South-Sudan. Kajo Keji County is calling on the national and state governments to sort out payroll problems that have cost hundreds of civil servants their salaries, with arrears now piling up since July 2023.
The civil servants have been paid after failing to earn their July salaries as instructed by the National Minister of Finance, Dr Bak Barnaba, in December last year, while other counties in Greater Yei have been paid.
The Commissioner of Kajo Keji County, Phanuel Dumo, said they learnt that the money was going to be paid by a committee that was formed but it turned out that it paid other civil servants, leaving out those in Kajo Keji.
“To our dismay, here money meant for Greater Yei was paid out and Kajo Keji County was left and the worst part of it was that the paysheet that belongs to Kajo Keji was found in Lainya County; now who took that pay sheet there?” he posed as he protested the confusion that denied theme pay.
“So, to me as an administrator here, I think it is either sabotage or there is a problem somewhere and that problem is not known by any of us here,” he added.
An official from public service who spoke to The City Review anonymously confirmed that Kajo Keji civil servants were not paid, a consequence that he blamed on the state authorities, who he said failed to request the money on time.
“They requested for money but they would not add on the SSP83 million that is meant for Kajo Keji salaries so that is where the problem came from,” he said.
“But now, the National Ministry of Finance is processing their payments to be sent to Kajo Keji County as salaries,” he added.
John Deng, the Director-General for pension in the Ministry of Public Service and the head of the salary payment committee in CES, said he could not understand why the civil servants did not receive their salaries despite the fact that he has paid the military forces himself to all the six counties.
“I am the one who paid the organized forces,” he said. “When I paid the organized forces, I took the money to Kajo keji, the organized forces received their money in Kajo Keji, those in Yei, Tereka, Kaya and other counties received their money in their counties,” he said
Deng said the ministry of public service paid most of the organized forces their July and August salaries.
On Thursday, a group of civil servants from Kajo Keji County, Central Equatoria State, demanded for answers from the government, asking why their salaries have not been paid from July to date.
Staff from the health department in Kajo Keji who spoke to The City Review questioned why their salaries of all the civil servants in other counties had been paid with the exception of Kajo Keji County.
“We have not received our salaries from July to date and we don’t know the reasons. What is the problem?” he questioned.
“We want the government to explain why the civil servants are not paid up to now yet other counties within the state are already paid,” he added.
In December 2023, the Ministry of Finance and Planning announced that it would begin paying outstanding salaries for public servants, organized forces, and foreign missions starting December 14, 2023.
Source: The City Review South Sudan
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