Nearly two months after a court decision, teachers in Rumbek are still missing millions of SSP they were owed two years ago. The special high court in South Sudan’s Lakes State capital Rumbek ordered the state government to pay back more than 3.6 million SSP to teachers at nine secondary schools as compensation for several months of missing incentive payments.
The final decision was announced on 26th June 2020, meant to end a court battle between the secondary school teachers and the former state officials over the missing teachers’ incentives since 2018.
“My clients, the teachers and I are satisfied over the ruling made by the special court about the disappearance of 3,638,700 SSP,” said Malith Jokthiang Wundit, a defense lawyer representing teachers in Rumbek. “Yes, it is now the state government particularly the two ministries, finance and education represented by the government legal advisor to pay the money which was missing from the secondary schools.”
These incentive payments are part of the national government’s budget and are a commitment to provide funds to help schoolteachers do their work. The money should come from the national government and be sent to the state, to be distributed to the teachers. It is not the same as donor-funded programs, such as capitation grants.
Several teachers who spoke to Radio Tamazuj have experienced great impacts due to the lack of incentive money over several months. Ustaz Daniel Reech, a teacher at Bishop Mozzalari Memorial Secondary School, said the delays caused a lot of challenges and negative effects to their families.
“We the teachers are facing a lot of challenges and that is finance,” Daniel Reech said. “You may be having your daughter, son or a wife falling sick or no food and if you don’t have money to rush her to the hospital for treatment or feed her it can be an issue.”
Two government officials were called before the court to respond to the allegations of missing funds. Deng Mamer, the former governor of the defunct Western Lake State, and his Deputy William Koji, who was also the acting minister of education, appeared before the court to discuss the lack of incentive payment. They both told the court they were not responsible for the missing funds. The court ordered a financial audit.
During the announcement in June, Judge Eid Sabit Eid, the High Court powers in Lake State said the ministry of finance and the ministry of education will be in charge to pay back teachers’ incentives through their state government’s legal advisor.
“Three million South Sudanese pounds (3,000,000 SSP) was already deposited to Eden Bank Account for teachers’ compensation and the balance of six hundred and thirty-eight thousand, and seven hundred South Sudanese pounds (638,700 SSP) as well as court expenses of one million and twenty-eight thousand, and seventy South Sudanese pounds (1,288,070 SSP) has also remained to be cleared by the state government,” said Judge Eid Sabit in his ruling, although Radio Tamazuj was unable to verify this.
Lawyer Malith Jokthiang, who represents the teachers, said he does not know whether the amount of 3 million SSP has been paid by the state government into Eden Bank account.
“Myself and my clients, the teachers whose money has been missing for a year and a half now don’t have knowledge about which bank account has the amount of 3 million SSP has been deposited in as claimed by the government legal adviser,” said Jokthiang, the teachers’ lawyer. “We are completely not aware.”
Edmund Yakani, the Executive Director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), said he agreed with the court ruling over the teachers’ incentive case in Rumbek. He said the court ruling was genuine but the question now is the commitment of those who are willing to take the ruling into actuality.
According to the Judge, the two ministries within the state would be fully responsible to clear the remaining balance after 14 days, starting from the date the announcement was made: June 26.
Malith Jokthiang, the teachers’ lawyer, told Radio Tamazuj that his clients haven't received any money in their bank account until now.
"My appeal is that the court has to follow-up on this issue by making sure that those who are responsible are supposed to execute the resolution of the court, and followed by the court execution,” said Yakani, the South Sudanese activist. “If the court is silent then they can delay as much as until the decision of the court dies naturally, that is my take.”
Jokthiang said he will write a notification letter to the newly appointed governor of Lakes State Major general Makur Kulang Liei over the matter.
Ustaz Kuc Abiei, the Head of teachers’ incentives committee, said he has discussed with his defense lawyer the possibilities of implementing the execution of a high court order against the ministry of finance and ministry of education and they have agreed to discuss the court decision with the new governor of Lakes State before they take any other decision.
He denied any payments made to him by the ministry of finance and education since the court announced its final verdict on the misappropriation of teachers’ incentives in Lakes State.
Although the judge’s final decision ordered the money to be repaid, he did not lay blames on any specific government official or institution for the funds going missing. It remains unclear what happened to the original transferred funds.
For his part, Moses Marial Bol Tokmac, the lawyer for the former governor Deng Mamer Yuol and his deputy governor William Koji Kerjok Kertim said his clients are set free by the special court judge from the case of the disappearance of teachers’ incentives in Rumbek.
“I am happy with the outcomes of the ruling from the special court judge that set all my clients free,” Tokmac said. “The matter of compensation of teachers’ incentives will be between the State government and the teachers, but my clients are set free from the issue of money disappearance.”
Edmund Yakani, the activist, further said that the judiciary process in the country sometimes subsides normally with both military and political elites because the civil servants and judiciary sometimes feel that their job security is determined by the influence of the political elites and when the case is meeting public interest, sometimes the judiciary takes it so difficult like this case of teacher’s incentives which could be an example.
Reech, one of the teachers who is still waiting for the incentive payment, said it is very hard to continue giving lessons when he is struggling to feed his family.
“We the teachers asked ourselves, where are the teachers' incentives?” He said. “Who has gone with the teachers' incentives?”