Employees of South Sudan’s national Ministry of Justice on Tuesday staged a protest demanding payment for a bonus of three months’ salaries that they claimed was promised to them. 

One of the protestors Jeremiah Loponya Peter told Bakhita Radio that the ministry was dodging and telling the staff inaccurate information for a long time.

He said the employees conducted several meetings with administrators who kept telling the staff that they would get their bonus after receiving salaries, but nothing materialized.

According to the Juba radio station, Loponya said all staff decided not to work until the ministry pays their bonus.

Another striker, Charles Lodu said the ministry promised to give the bonus since December 2013, but until now it failed to fulfill the pledge.

The ministry administrators declined to comment to Bakhita Radio.

Another protest by laid-off civil servants was staged in Wau in Western Bahr El Ghazal on Monday at the State Public Service Ministry.

More than one hundred downsized employees are reported to have protested.

Public Service Minister Monica Sabino Madut said the protesters were among a group of 350 employees laid off in 2008 without being paid their benefits, Voice of Hope reported.

She said the demonstrators were misinformed on the payment schedule, explaining that the National Ministry of Finance had transferred only limited funds to the state.

According to the state minister, the benefit committee wanted to pay only 15 people out of 350 downsized personnel, while the rest would have to wait.

The protest came a week after the ministry cleared nearly 162 ghost names and 143 pension aged names from its pay role, according to Voice of Hope.

File photo: An aerial view of Juba, South Sudan