Thousands of students from the University of Bahr el Ghazal in the Western Bahr el Ghazal State capital Wau on Monday took to the streets demanding the government to pay the Pawak Company which has been contracted to supply food to the university.
According to the students, the university ran out of food three weeks ago because the supplier had not been paid.
Last week, the university students formed a committee that visited the state’s deputy governor to explain their situation after they ran out of food but there was no immediate action taken.
On Monday morning, the students went on the street and closed roads leading to and from the university and threatened to storm the main markets in the town to get food.
Some of the students carried placards with “No food, no elections” emblazoned on them while others brandished sticks and held pieces of bread while demanding urgent intervention.
Police were heavily deployed near the main campus but did not confront the peaceful students.
Several students told Radio Tamazuj that they were only demanding food because they had been going hungry for three weeks.
“We complain that we need food because we have suffered for three weeks without food,” said Akuoc Michael Agany, one of the students. “We do not know what is wrong with supplying Pawak company or with the government but what we need is just food. No food, no elections.”
Another student, Chol Atem, said they were peacefully demanding food from the government.
“We are standing here demanding food so let the government bring the food or they must pay the company called Pawak because we need food now,” he said.
Another student who identified himself only as Yiel wondered how they could study without food.
“My name is Yiel and I am a second-year student in the College of Medicine. We complain that we need food because we have not had food for the last month,” he said. “How can we continue studying without food? We need the government to pay the contracted company.”
Responding to the students’ demands, Western Bahr el Ghazal State Deputy Governor Zackaria Joseph Garang promised to provide the university with food for one week as the state government continues to engage the National Ministry of Higher Education to resolve the matter.
“The problem is because the contractor has not been paid and this is not a minor problem but as the state government, we will help you,” he stated. “We need you to return to the campus because we are going to bring you food for seven days. We will bring you lentils, beans, and flour and this is just to support you.”
“We have engaged the Vice President for Service Cluster, Hussein Abdallbagi, and our governor over the matter so that the problem of the University of Bahr el Ghazal is settled,” he added.