The High Committee for Demanding Workers’ Rights in West Sudan’s Darfur State has denied any regular salaries disbursement as claimed by Finance Minister Jabril Ibrahim.
In a statement to employees, the committee maintained that workers have not received a single pound since the war broke out in Sudan on 15 April 2023.
They were reacting to a recent Al Jazeera news item that quoted Minister Ibrahim saying that state employees have been receiving their salaries at the end of each month.
Hafez Idris, a member of the High Committee for Demanding Workers’ Rights, expressed regret over the minister’s statement regarding salary disbursement.
“When and to whom the funds were disbursed?” he asked. “Workers were shocked at the claims.”
Idris said the beleaguered workers were living in extremely hard conditions that have forced them to engage in menial jobs such as shoe shinning and street vending to earn a living. He said some worker had become burdens to their families and society.
“The workers will continue demanding clarification from the minister concerning the salaries saga. The ministry should not turn into a political entity that discriminates between state employees,” the official charged. “Salary disbursements should not be subjected to political calculations because salaries are workers’ rights and are not related to the ongoing war in Sudan.”
Idris further demanded that the minister disclose the entity that received the workers’ salaries in the state.
“We urge him (minister) to immediately send the salaries without conditions as long as the state is capable of fulfilling them because salaries are a right that should not be subject to any political bargaining,” he insisted.