Striking judges in South Sudan have finally called off their four months indefinite strike, saying they have decided to resume work on September 11.
Over 270 judges went on strike since May to demand higher salaries, better working conditions, and the resignation of the country’s chief justice Chan Reech, whom they accuse of ignoring their demands.
The strike paralysed the over-stretched judiciary in the world’s youngest nation, which has been suffering from a civil war for more than four years.
Bol Lul Wang, the new chairman of South Sudan judges’ committee, told Radio Tamazuj today evening that their general assembly has decided to resume work unconditionally although none of their demands have been met.
“As judges, we decided to call off the strike for the sake of citizens, so this is a patriotic position from us after we saw that the citizens are the most affected by the open-ended strike. We found out that the strike was not useful at all,” said Lul.
He further said the decision to resume work has nothing to do with the presidency’s appeal to striking judges to resume work. “We took the decision before the presidency’s appeal,” he said.
Lul pointed out that they had a meeting with President Kiir to inform him about the decision taken by the judges to resume work without any conditions. The South Sudanese judge revealed that President Kiir will soon take steps to meet some of their demands, especially the issue of the country’s chief justice and dismissed colleagues.
In July, President Salva Kiir sacked 14 judges who had been on strike over poor pay and living conditions since May.