By Mamer Abraham
South Sudanese employed in the East African Community Secretariat is very low compared to other member states.
Chairperson of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), Dr. Anne Itto said South Sudanese employees in the executive structures of the regional body remain low.
She noted that despite protests and affirmative action granted in 2021 by the Council of Ministers, South Sudan still remains underrepresented.
According to Dr. Itto, only four South Sudanese were employed in the EAC executive structures, while two others who were later recruited did not report to work.
“We still have a gap. At the time last year when the recruitment was being made, there were only four South Sudanese in the entire East African Community, from the Secretariat level to the institutions of the EAC,” she stated.
“Even after the recruitment, I think about two people who were recruited, but they have never reported to EAC up to this point.”
Dr. Itto noted that employment was still active and South Sudanese should apply whenever possible to grab positions, adding that the South Sudanese Chapter and the Ministry of EAC Affairs would advocate for fairness and equality in employment.
“But employment is also active; more advertisements have been made, and I think South Sudan will continue, either through the members of parliament or through the Ministry of East African Affairs, to seek justice,” she continued.
“Each time recruitment is made, we will continue to remind them that we are East Africans and there is a need for equity,” she pointed out.
She maintained that the bloc has a South Sudanese deputy secretary-general who would always fight for the rights of South Sudanese and their representation in the parliament.
In 2021, members of the East African Legislative Assembly’s (EALA) South Sudan Chapter protested recruitment in the EAC after only 14 South Sudanese were shortlisted for positions in the EAC Secretariat, while other countries like Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania took the lion’s share.
South Sudanese MPs in EALA later wrote a letter to the EAC Secretariat asking for South Sudan to be granted affirmative action, which means that the country would be given positions that would not be contested.
The East African Council of Ministers later resolved to grant South Sudanese eleven free positions in the Secretariat.