Civil servants in the Jonglei State capital, Bor town have rejected the recent appointment of director-generals to the state ministries, dismissing the move as unconstitutional.
The civil servants’ reaction comes barely days after the new officials were appointed as an attempt to resolve the standoff with the state governor failed.
A week ago, Governor Denay Jock Chagor made a reshuffle, appointing director-generals (DGs) to the 17 cabinet ministries in the state.
The deputy head of the body representing civil servants, the Jonglei Trade and Workers’ Union Mading Mamer told Radio Tamazuj on Friday that his boss’s move violates the constitution, expressing anxiety that government operation could be curtailed.
“Of these 17 new DGs, 13 did not previously serve in any government positions. Our concern is that before Jonglei was split into four states, senior civil servants went with the defunct states. Why not bring them back?” Madding asked.
He added, “According to the labor law, civil servants are not appointed by decrees. This will affect the delivery of services. The government should have instead formed a committee to oversee the amalgamation of workers from the defunct states; it would have been that body to recommend a DG to be appointed to the cabinet.”
The local official called on the national government to intervene, saying, “On Monday (last week), our meeting with the governor was futile. So, we are calling on the national government to address this issue.”
Another civil servant who preferred to remain anonymous blamed the governor’s move on the lack of teamwork with the government and that a constitutional crisis has been created.
Governor Denay declined to comment but his information minister and the government spokesperson Veronica William applauded the new appointment.
“The appointment of these DGs to all the 17 ministries was done by the governor; it is his work. So, no one could question that,” she said.