By Akol Madut Ngong
The Council of Ministers have resolved in their last Friday’s Cabinet meeting to formulate a Technical Committee under the Ministry of Public Service that will be tasked to work out a new salary structures all together for civil servants that’s matching with the current market forces.
This follows the latest, a hundred percent salary increment to civil servants and the organized forces which took effect but with little or no change to the livelihood of the common citizens as the increment is just like a single drop in the ocean given the runaway inflation in the country.
On Friday the Council of Ministers in their Regular Meeting No.7/2022 chaired by President Salva Kiir Mayardit where the Cabinet deliberated on the 2022/2023 ambitious budget of 1.3 trillion South Sudanese pounds, the salary issues surfaced as the Cabinet passed the whopping fiscal budget.
Michael Makuei Lueth, the Minister of Information, Telecommunication and Postal Services who is the Official Government’s Spokesperson told reporters shortly after Friday’s Cabinet Meeting that the issue of civil servants’ salaries came up after the passing of the national budget for 2022/2023.
“The budget being discussed and passed, the issue of salary structure came up and it was agreed that instead of going in for an increment for salaries structure every time, and that increment doesn’t actually reflect the situation on the ground, we say last time when we passed the resolution of increasing the salaries by a hundred percent and for soldier is nothing because if the salary is one thousand or two thousand, if you increased by hundred, the salary will be two thousand four thousand,” Makuei underlined.
“Instead of going for every incremented, the Cabinet decided that there should be set up of technical committee to work out a new salary structure all together in accordance with situation on the ground and this committee definitely will be established and will work out the salary structure under the ministry of public service,” Makuei told reporters on Friday.
“It is there after that the presentation will be made and the government will be in a position to decide what to do and put into consideration the amendment of the Emolument and Privileges Act which was made as a law governing the salary of the constitutional post holders, this budget was passed” Makuei further said.
Makuei however said the Government’s priorities of the new budget of 2022/2023 budget of 1.3 trillion pounds are the implementation of peace agreement, agriculture, food security and roads among others.