Salary payment dilemma and their negative impacts on public servants’ human rights
William Sunday Tor
By William Sunday D. Tor, Juba, South Sudan
Friday, 24 May 2024 (PW) — When they voted for independent nation of their own in referendum of January 2011, South Sudanese never thought about inability of their future independent state to pay the government employees for almost a year. Indeed, they never thought of nation which would not respect laws, including the national budgets and agreements between the public employees and the employer, the national government.
According to the law, the salaries are chapter one and priority to any government of the day, which should be released and paid on monthly basis without fail, but in the light of current situation in South Sudan, it seems that the salaries are not the priority of the Revitalized Government of the National Unity.
Regretfully, the rulers don’t consider the salaries as rights of the public servants, which they deserve, but they are just like donation to them for they think the country resources are not public ownership but their properties, including the poor people, and as such, they follow the national budgets law and procedures of payment.
Even the foreign donors are endowed with humanity feeling, where they can feel the suffering of those who are beneficiaries of their donation and as result, they respect their donation obligations, where they fulfil their promises and offer their donation in timely banner to save lives of the neediest.
In addition, the donors provide adequate donation which can address household need for period of time. Unfortunately, it seems the rulers in power lack humanity feeling towards the public servants whom they use to deliver services to the public, including different security services.
Many people do ask about whether those in power possess sense of human feeling about the endless suffering of their fellow country men and women, the public servants and their dependents families’ members? Are they really concern about public servants living? Do they ask themselves about where do their access health care and educational needs of their children?
Are those in power aware about the public servants and their dependents who are losing their lives on daily basis due to starvation and lack of health care as result of nonpayment of their salaries? Are those in power aware about those public servants in courts and prisons for their failure to settle debts as result of delay of payment of their salaries?
Are those in power aware that nonpublic servants with their families are homeless or in grabbed lands residential areas for their failure to pay their landlords due to nonpayment of their salaries?
Do rulers in power know that those youth who are deserting their families to migrate to the Western World, where they are trafficked by human trafficking criminals are sons and daughters of the public servants whom their government fail to pay them their salaries for almost a year.
In conclusion, the rulers in power are advised to fear God and respect the Universal Human Rights and laws of South Sudan which require them to pay the public servants their monthly salaries as chapter one of the national budgets so that they can perform their duties of delivering services to people of South Sudan.
May God bless our beloved Country.
William Sunday D. Tor is media political analyst, based in South Sudan and can be reached at: williamtor2011@gmail.com.
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