Civil servants in South Sudan’s Northern Bahr el Ghazal State have received their two months’ salary arrears.
The civil servants have been demanding the payment of six-months salary arrears since November last year. They have also called for adjustments in their salaries while decrying skyrocketing commodity prices.
The state information minister William Anyuon Kuol said the payments were made on Thursday and Friday.
“Today, the civil servants are receiving salaries in Northern Bahr el Ghazal,” he said. “According to the civil servants, they say that they have not been paid for six months. So you subtract two months from six months, and you remain with four months. But we don’t know which months they are.”
Akot Lual, one of the employees who spoke to Radio Tamazuj, said the salaries they received are not sufficient for their needs.
“I think it is very unfortunate for the government to tell the people that money is out and we don’t know whether the ministry of finance is respecting what the president has declared sometime back that money has to be out on monthly basis,” Lual questioned.
He said the money they have received is like a drop in the ocean and urged the state government to ensure the prompt payment of workers’ salaries.
Meanwhile, the state Anticorruption Commission chairperson, Anei Rok, confirmed that the salaries paid are meant for November and December 2021.
“We have two months (November-December 2021) salaries are out now. But we are still demanding four months from January to April,” he added.
In January, the government paid October 2021 salary arrears for civil servants in the state.