By Manas James
Jonglei State government has given two weeks deadline for civil servants outside the state to report to workplace or else face dismissal.
“…all civil servants are directed to report to their workplace in a period of 14 days from Monday…… hence, any failure to honor his directive will lead to total dismissal” an abstract of the circular reads.
Issued on Friday, the state government noted in the circular that the absentee workers were given numerous notification letters to report to their offices, in the last ten months but without heeding.
“It’s from the generosity that Jonglei State government would like to offer last chance to any civil servants as received in the Council of Ministers meeting No. 2/2023 dated June 2, 2023,” it reads.
Elizabeth Nyadak, the state information minister, said the decision would enable the government to establish the actual statistics of the workforce.
“The reason to come up with the decision is that some civil servants have been absent in the state for the last three years. We really want to know who is in the state and who is not in the state,” she said.
Nyadak, who also doubles as the state government mouthpiece, warned of punitive measures against employees who disobey the order.
“Those who will not report are those who do not recognize themselves as workers because if you are a worker, you should identify yourself,” she stressed.
Reacting to the call, Abraham Mading, the head of Workers’ Union in the state, said two weeks would not be sufficient for those outside the state.
“We welcome any order issued in good faith for civil servants to report to work so that everyone gets their rights, however, the problem is that two weeks are not enough” Mading stated.
He noted that some of the absentee civil servants are in refugee and IDP camps outside the state, cautioning, the move shouldn’t be used to swindle civil servants.
“So, this should not be a pretext for salaries to be embezzled,” he alarmed.