By Akol Madut Ngong
The speaker of transitional national Parliament, Rt. Hon. Jemma Nunu Kumba has revealed that the Council of Ministers has tasked the Economic Cluster to increase civil servants’ salary to suit the current economic situation.
Responding to a lawmaker who came up with plight of civil servants, speaker Kumba said when the Economic Cluster finishes reviewing the new salary structure and passes; it will be presented to the cabinet and to parliament for approval as a supplementary budget.
“The Council of Ministers made a resolution that the issue of salaries should go back to the Economic Cluster and that is where it is now, and we were told that the Economic Cluster will work on the realistic increment that suits the current economic situation and then they will bring it back to cabinet,” she said.
“When it is tabled in the cabinet and approved, it would have been brought to parliament as supplementary budget,” she continued.
She added that the matter of salaries increment for civil servants is their concern as the August House, asserting that some members took to social media to criticize the parliament as if the House was against pay raise.
“Bill does not originate from the parliament, it originates from the executive, I am hearing some of you talking on social media and as if there is somebody in this parliament who is against the increment of the civil servant salaries,” Kumba wondered.
“Otherwise, we are all concerned about the welfare of our people and we wanted the salaries increment to be incorporated into the new budget but the minister said that we are only increasing it by 20% which is in this [passed] budget,” she asserted.
The Speaker further urged all members to wait a little bit longer, adding that the supplementary budget will be presented for deliberation and endorsement.
“So, we are still waiting for the supplementary budget to be brought to parliament, the budget was presented for signature for the deliberation two weeks ago, the minister went to a meeting to New York,” she concluded.
On October 11, undersecretary in the ministry of Public Service and Human Resource Development, Prof. Julia Aker Duan said they used world statistic to increase salary to 1,000% in new salary structure.
Aker said the newly proposed salary structure by the ministry of Public Service capped the earning of the lowest paid public servants at SSP70, SSP69, while an ordinary soldier will be entitled for monthly income of SSP89, 409.