The employees of the Northern Bahr el Ghazal State Ministry of Agriculture are calling for the removal of their minister after protests over pay cuts and the suspension of colleagues.
The embattled state minister is a member of the opposition SPLM-IO led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar. He was appointed to the position in 2021 as part of the 2018 power-sharing agreement.
Stephen Majak, a representative of the protesting employees, Radio Tamazuj Wednesday that they demand the firing of the state minister Anei Deng Akook from his position, saying the minister has apparently failed to address complaints raised by the staff.
“The letter you have received as Radio Tamazuj was written by 166 staff members of the state ministry of agriculture. They are calling for the removal of Minister Anei Deng Akook,” Majak said.
“You know, the governor of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State had asked all the employees to go and attend the SPLM rally in Wau, Western Bahr el Ghazal State, from date 3 and 4 July and all the ministries were closed, and people went to Wau. But after our colleagues returned from Wau, the agriculture minister directed the Director-General to cut two day’s salaries from the employees who went to Wau and the cut ranges from 2,400 SSP to 1,500 SSP,” he explained.
The protesting staff representative accused the agriculture minister of misappropriating 10 tractors donated by President Salva Kiir, 3 passenger cars and 6 motorbikes.
Meanwhile, the deputy director of environment at the ministry, Achol Yuel, said: “The minister is treating us badly in the ministry. He cut salaries claiming that he wants to buy fuel for cars, although there are now cars. Also, he cut ID fees and there was nothing tangible and he finally deducted two days’ salaries from all staff without clear reasons.”
For his part, Minister Anei Deng said he would address the matter administratively. “This is an administrative matter and must be solved administratively, and if they keep talking about it over the media, it will affect their rights,” Anei warned.