The administration of the University of El Geneina in Sudan’s West Darfur State has ordered that the May salary arrears be paid to university employees in the Chadian city of Adre amid complaints from some staff.
The committee tasked to prepare payment of salary arrears released a circular specifying the salary payment centers in Chad and the university coordination office. The committee said the salary payment will be made in person in Adre, Chad.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Saturday, several university employees expressed discontent with the university administration’s decision asking all employees to travel to Chad to get paid salaries there.
Dr. Hasabi Al-Rassoul Issa Braima, Dean of the College of Islamic Studies, told Radio Tamazuj on Saturday that the fighting in El Geneina town has forced a large number of university professors and employees to take refuge in Chad, including the Vice-Chancellor and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor.
Dr. Braima described the decision to pay salary arrears in Chad as inhumane.” The Vice-Chancellor and his deputy made this decision. We had suggested that the salaries be paid in El Geneina town where the employees reside, but they rejected the idea.”
Ahmed Idris Ibrahim, Director of Investment at the University, said the university staff have suffered from the current university administration. “They practiced discrimination against us and gave us an incomplete April salary. We complained to the Chadian authorities last month and agreed that May’s salary would be paid in El Geneina,” he added.
Ahmed continued, “The May and June salaries are ready to be paid, and the workers at El Geneina, whose number is more than 170, have now been denied a chance to get their salaries here in El Geneina.”
According to Ahmed, the teaching staff met at the university and decided to escalate the issue so that the employees can receive their salaries in El Geneina town instead of travelling to Chad. “We will begin by informing the Minister of Higher Education and holding a press conference to clarify the issue, and we will stage protests against the Vice-Chancellor’s decision,” he stressed.
The University of El Geneina is one of the public higher learning instiutions in Sudan.
Sudan’s education sector has been in shambles since the conflict erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in mid-April.
More than 5.6 million people have been displaced within and outside Sudan, according to UN estimates.