Jonglei State government says it has given its civil servants who are outside the state three weeks to report to their workplaces or face dismissal for neglect of duty.
The call was made in a notice issued Friday.
“Despite numerous notifications issued by the government for the last 10 months for civil servants to report to their workplaces, it is from the generosity that Jonglei State government would like to offer a last chance to any civil servants as received in the Council of Ministers meeting No. 2/2023 dated June 2, 2023, that all civil servants are directed to report to their workplace in a period of 14 days from Monday, June 5, 2023, to June 18 2023; hence, any failure to honour his directive will lead to total dismissal,” reads the notice in part.
The state information minister, Elizabeth Nyadak, while confirming the order Monday, told Radio Tamazuj that the government decision was crucial.
“The reason the government ordered all civil servants to come to work is that we really want to know who is in the state and who is not in the state,” she said. “Those who will not report are those who do not recognize themselves as workers because if you are a worker, you should identify yourself.”
Reacting to the news, Abraham Mading, the head of the Workers’ Union in the state, said two weeks is insufficient for those outside the state.
“We welcome any order issued in good faith for civil servants to report to work so that anyone gets their rights. However, the problem is that two weeks are not enough. Some civil servants are in refugee and IDP camps outside the state. So, this should not be a pretext for salaries to be embezzled,” he noted.