South Sudan cabinet cuts down salaries
By James Gatdet Dak
September 9, 2008 (JUBA) – In a Council of Ministers’ resolution passed last Friday, the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) finally resolved to cut down salaries, emoluments and entitlements for constitutional post holders in the region.
For the last three years, various organs and levels of government in Southern Sudan imposed unequal salary structures for their respective constitutional post holders, some paying more higher than normal.
According to a data presented at a last month’s meeting of the Council of Ministers, Jonglei state was leading all the ten Southern Sudan states where the governor was paid a monthly salary of 17,650 Sudanese pounds (SDG), which is about $8,800 US dollars.
The least paid governor in the ten states, according to the data, was the Western Equatoria state governor who was paid an amount of 9,150 Sudanese pounds (SDG), which is about ($4,550) monthly, including basic salary, emoluments and entitlements.
After a one week scrutiny of the situation by a Ministerial Committee formed per earlier resolution passed on August 29, 2008, the Council, in resolving the issue, has comparatively adopted the salary structures of northern Sudan for all levels of executive organs.
The resolution which is yet to be decreed into effect by the GoSS President, Salva Kiir Mayardit, will finally standardize and equalize, after three years, respective salaries, emoluments and entitlements of GoSS and state ministers, advisors, governors and commissioners at various levels of government.
According to the resolution, for instance, all the ten state governors would now be receiving equal basic salary of 1,200 SDG ($600) monthly plus emoluments and entitlements that would all add up to the amount of 10,950 SDG ($5,475), exactly the same as those of GoSS Ministers’.
Emoluments and entitlements include Cost of Living Allowance, Representation Allowance, Accommodation Allowance, Travel Allowance, Housing Subsidy, etc., some of which were not supposed to be paid on monthly basis, but in lump sum when necessary.
The decision has respectively affected executive organs’ constitutional post holders’ salaries by up to 20% to 35% reduction from the previously imposed irregular monthly salary structures, particularly in some of the ten state governments who were far above the now adopted salary structures.
Others like Western Equatoria state governor who were below the now standardized salary structures have been instead privileged by the resolution to increase by about 5-10%, respectively from previous salary structure.
Southern Sudan and state legislative assemblies would have their salary structures resolved after they are consulted with by the Executive, according to the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Gabriel Changson Chang.
This also applies to the judiciary organ that needs further study before its salary structures are resolved.
Also since last year, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the Ministry of Public Service, Labor and Human Resource Development started to screen pay sheets of GoSS civil servants in which hundreds of millions of dollars have been recovered from salaries going to individual ghost names and double or triple monthly pay from different institutions.
The Council of Ministers is also expected to scrutinize the present salary structures of civil servants in the near future for possible adjustments.
Most of the GoSS average annual budgets of $1.4 billion US dollars, and the bulk of which comes from oil revenues, are feared to have been drained annually by these huge financial irregularities since formation in 2005, leaving insufficient finances for delivery of badly needed basic services to the people.
GoSS officials blame the situation on weak, but now improving government institutions.
The semi-autonomous Government of Southern Sudan emerged from decades of war and started from the scratch after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed, ending the conflict on January 9, 2005 between the previous central government in Khartoum led by the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).
President Kiir has since 2006 publicly declared zero-tolerance on corruption in his government.
(ST)
Grader
South Sudan cabinet cuts down salaries
That is as good as it gets … but the statement needs to be translated into action asap. Good luck South Sudan … may God bless ya children.
Agutran
South Sudan cabinet cuts down salaries
Who claimed to be in the outfit of the honorable Kuol Manyang that he or she should earned the same as Kuol Manyang, Salva Kiir and other SPLA/M leaders?
Who has the ability to handle what they had achieved in the past?
What’d go through your common sense if you have been working in the same company for decades and there come some one today and earned the same as you do?
For those who believed in socialism, we’re not socialist but capitalist, the more you do the more you earned. You don’t do less and expect more.
Don’t believed me, explore the Western Countries for the authenticity prove.
Who is going to tell me Mubarak is earning the same as Bashir, Kibaki the same Museveni, Bush of USA the same as Brown of Great Britain just to name a few.
If your answer is they in different Countries, then the Governors are in the dissimilar States.
Good luck for those who are buying all the baloneys.
J.James
South Sudan cabinet cuts down salaries
What’s up Mr. Grader?
I hope your salary escape this regulation. Anyway take it easy young man democracy normally fix bending issues of such nature.
For those who are haking, People of South Sudan share equal creeds, culture, skin tone and civil rights to hand the same priviledges like anybody else in the country. It doesn’t make any tiny sense to stress that, there are some leaders who deserve hefty lump of salaries than others. That is complete lost of mind for us to think that way. I really want to give our parliament 2000 of my hand claps.
I hope after this they (parliament) are going to talk about our military pay delays. Why should our soldiers have to wait four to six months without salaries while others are paid? This need urgent solution. I used to be on the line and I know how tough it is to hear your kids huddling with hunger while beig away inside bushe. Our commanders don’t need to forget that now.
I hope all goes well.
God bless
The writer is a hunter around kongkong and Nanaham Rivers.
Mr Famous Big_Logic_Boy
South Sudan cabinet cuts down salaries
Oh My God how crazy we have been living in this nation,this is why i say Jungle remain as jungle without change or any positive act toward this nation of Southern Sudan,how can you really recicve this huge amount even compared to the governor of Southern Sudan Capital (Juba)?. This is the reason why i always say that SPLA is not longer in the name of SPLA,it is now Salves People Liberation Army/M,and this might be the point why he and his clan keep looting the wealth of South Sudan rather than develpment,even you have consume more the amount that could be spent on the development but where are the result on your environment/skin or body,
However these selfishness and having this big heart of being rich has nothing to do with in this beautiful nation of South Sudan,how about those who claim that Koul was a guy who works aganist corruption.how and where? .You just talk of good guy when there is money,how about tomorrow if that reduction could be true for everyone !!!.How about now who is the teacher of this corruption in south Sudan not him. you people of whom i can called junglese”your Junglese has nothing to do with it’s just like a blind without medication or any mean of treatmen” and this need to be looked at properly and carefully.
Therefore i would just igonre them but i want let them not to enter different territories with their negative behaviours which has no reflection on any view,let them remain where they are,however for those who cares about the lives of others and dreaming the turning this nation into a wonderful environment has their day to come,so please cool down there is time for weeding this craken nation by those jungle community.But before we would come to the conclusion,i would like to check the truth about this community of jungle whether this is their spirit or just something that you have learnt from other areas because some people have been hiding in different countries during the 21 years.
AramanaCaani junuba
South Sudan cabinet cuts down salaries
YES PEOPLE,
”All animals are Equal BUT some animals are more Equal than Others!!”
thanks
Aramanacaani.
Majur Manyang
South Sudan cabinet cuts down salaries
That is great to GOSS we should appreciate rather then dwelling on blaming each other,the magnitute of the problem was actually on the hand of public service ministery who is solely responsible for setting scales and salary of GOSS working staff at all level,in other word they are the one to enlight the public on these glaring disparity in the salary all over the GOSS ESTATES/MINISTERIES in the South.
This eye-catching corruption about disproportion gap in the salary has been there since inception of GOSS but the ministery of public services is silent and are the one to pared these differences.
It is good that they had start working on it God will let us reached 2011 through corruptions and correction till we achieve our independent South Sudan.(thanks only advice).
Ben-Fu
South Sudan cabinet cuts down salaries
This article should good step and mean to fixes these problems and to work for equality and transparency throughout Southern Sudan.
So give it a thumb up.
How many of us knew how much does NCP ministers make a month? This is my question and we will never know because they don’t want any one to know the huge loot of our oil being misused.
Thyinka
South Sudan cabinet cuts down salaries
Standardization will be good so as to have some form of benchmark. If there is need for people doing the same job to be paid different salaries due to seniority or experiences, it can be done later. The system in the south is chaotic now and precedents are needed for future decision-making.