Plan afoot to pay civil servants salaries, says Makur
Delayed salaries for civil servants will be cleared by the end of the month, said Central Bank.
Bank of south Sudan (BoSS) Governor, Moses Makur Deng government employees will receive prompt payment going forward.
“We want to pay six months arrears. We have started with two now. The other two will be paid after June 18, while the payments for the last [two months] will be paid at the end of June. After June there will be no arrears,” he said.
He said that the government would soon announce the clearance of salary arrears.
“After clearing of 6 months’ salary arrears, there will be a press conference to announce [on the payment] and future plans of monthly payment of salary. That will be announced in detail. There is a plan already although it is not signed to guarantee that,” he reiterated.
According to the governor, the current salaries must be reviewed because they were too low to sustain civil servants even when they are doubled.
He stressed that when the time for increasing the salaries comes, the government would consider the lowest salary scale according to a level that can sustain a family of five people.
Earlier this month, the government set a technical committee to assess the best salary structure for civil servants across the country.
According to the Minister for Information, Communication Technology and Postal Services, Michael Makuei Lueth, the committee would work for hand in hand with the ministry of public service to come out with a new salary structure that will put a smile on the faces of nationals.
“The last time we increased the salary by 100 per cent, [but] the 100 per cent to a solider is nothing because if the salary was SSP1, 200, then it will be SSP 2,400. So, we have decided to set up a technical committee to work out a new salary structure altogether in accordance with the situation on the ground,” said Makuei said
“It’s thereafter that a presentation will be made and the government will be in a position to decide what to do and also put into consideration the amendment of the payment and privileges act which was the law governing the salaries of the constitution post holders.”
Currently, government employees are dragging behind those working in the private sector, with a nurse or a midwife pocketing SSP 2,000 and SSP 5,000 respectively, each month, while a doctor goes home with SSP 6,840.
A lowest-ranked soldier receives around SSP 1,500 and barely affords necessities for his family including food, housing, transport and so forth.
During the Independence Day celebrations on July 9, 2021, President Salva Kiir Mayardit announced a 100 per cent salary increment for all the civil servants across the country, directing finance and petroleum ministries to set aside 5,000 barrels of oil for payment of salaries.
Early this month, the government approved SSP 1.3 trillion budget once since the attainment of independence, believed to be a step in the right direction for the country.
