South Sudan to harmonize irregular salary structures
By James Gatdet Dak
August 29, 2008 (JUBA) — The Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) has passed a resolution calling for quick harmonization of irregular salary structures for constitutional post holders in the executive, legislative and judiciary organs at all levels of government.
These include GoSS Ministers, Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly (SSLA) members, state governors, state ministers, State Legislative Assembly members, GoSS Commissions chairpersons and County Commissioners, etc.
It also resolved on the need to standardize and equalize emoluments, entitlements and benefits for the constitutional post holders in the semi-autonomous region.
The resolution was passed on Friday in the Council of Ministers meeting chaired by the President of the semi-autonomous regional government, Salva Kiir Mayardit, who is also the First Vice President of the Republic of Sudan.
A Ministerial Committee to be headed by the Cabinet Affairs Minister, Luka Tombekana Monoja was formed to speedily workout a reasonable and acceptable salary structure. The Committee will then recommend to the Council of Ministers its final recommendations for approval, pending a Presidential decree to this effect.
For the last three years state governments in Southern Sudan imposed their respective irregular salary structures for their constitutional post holders, which have now become a big concern to GoSS.
According to the data presented at the meeting, Jonglei state is leading all the ten Southern Sudan states where the governor is paid a monthly salary of 17,650 Sudanese pounds which is equivalent to $8,800 US dollars.
This is followed by Warrap state where the governor is paid a monthly salary of 12,090 Sudanese pounds ($6,040) while his or her deputy is paid 12,200 Sudanese pounds ($6,100), which is slightly higher than his or her boss’.
The least paid governor in the ten states, according to the data, is the Western Equatoria state governor who is paid 9,150 Sudanese pounds, which is about ($4,550).
A GoSS Minister is paid a monthly salary of 10,150 Sudanese pounds, which is roughly equivalent to $5,050 US dollars and less than that of Jonglei state Minister who gets 11,950 ($5,900).
Another example is that of a GoSS Commission chairperson who is paid 8,450 ($4,225) far less than that of Eastern Equatoria state which pays its Commission chairperson 10,050 ($5,025).
In the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly (SSLA), a chairperson of a specialized committee in the SSLA is paid 11,000 Sudanese pounds ($5,500), which is slightly higher than that of a GoSS Minister.
In the ten State Legislative Assemblies, Jonglei state also has the highest paid monthly salary for the state Assembly Speaker which is 13,000 Sudanese pounds ($6,500).
A member of the Jonglei State Legislative Assembly is paid 7,185 Sudanese pounds ($3,580) monthly, higher than a monthly salary of a member of the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly in Juba who has a monthly salary of 6,250 Sudanese pounds ($3,120).
Warrap state has the least paid Speaker of the Assembly who gets a monthly salary of 7,850 Sudanese pounds ($3,925), almost half of that of his colleague in Jonglei state, according to the data collected.
When it comes to the Assembly clerks, Upper Nile state is leading the ten states with 4,800 Sudanese pounds ($2,400) per a month paid to a clerk, more than double the mount the SSLA clerk in Juba receives, and that is 2,100 Sudanese pounds ($1,050).
Last year the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Human Resources Development started to screen pay sheets of GoSS civil servant employees in which hundreds of millions of dollars have been covered from salaries going to ghost names and double or triple monthly salaries to individuals.
Most of the GoSS budgets are feared to have been drained annually by these huge financial irregularities, leaving little for delivery of badly needed basic services to the people.
GoSS blames weak, but now improving government institutions and lack of enacted laws for leaving a vacuum to the advantage of such irregular practices in the regional government.
The semi-autonomous government 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 and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).
(ST)
Kim Deng
South Sudan to harmonize irregular salary structures
Wow! even the US/Canada governors/commissioners cannot get that much. South Sudanese have long way to go.
Yaak Barach
South Sudan to harmonize irregular salary structures
It is a shame that our leaders are scooping that much money while civil servant workers and soldiers go for months without pay!!
Let’s hope that as the GOSS institutions become more effective, this situation will be corrected and services ‘ll be provided to the common people.
Gabz Elisson
South Sudan to harmonize irregular salary structures
Continue looting the public resources; and forget about your soldiers! The hard fighting soldiers are watching! Hurry, fill your corrupt stomachs; the day is coming when you will fall from grace to grass. And remember to run far when that day comes.
Ruai Malual Jal
South Sudan to harmonize irregular salary structures
Dear all,
this is a clear indication of the corruption in the government of southern Sudan. imagine SPLA soldiers are not geting their salary monthly,the ministers,governors, MPS and all those who are holding political post are geting their salary on time with the high payment.if this one is happening, it is not corruption?.
CORRUPTION IS TAKING PLACE IN SOUTHERN SUDAN.
Those who are doing corruption in the government are destroying the SPLM VISION.
Allaman Ikoilaman
South Sudan to harmonize irregular salary structures
Wow!, continue with that mess. Your days are numbered. One time that money will speak from your stomachs. Shame on you, our Goss, leaders for inefficiency and greed. That is why, they are ups and downs to diffrent countries to enjoy slats. HIV/AIDS, will clear you all.
Shame, shame. Who is the centre of this?. God knows.
Changarr.
Robin
South Sudan to harmonize irregular salary structures
Dear fellow Countrymen,thanks a lot for your heart breaking comments about the irregular salary structure we have in the South.South sudan is one of the most undeveloped parts of the World and yet we are paying salaries to the political appointees more than even our immidiate neighbering countries like Kenya uganda, Eretria etc on which we depend on every thing including vegetable and yet GOSS cannot even afford to build even a single tarmac road for its people neither do we have other utiliites like waster, electricity etc.Our hospitals and schools are barely at the mercy of NGOs.Our galent SPLA who fought hard to bring us where we are today are not paid for months.Our GOSS officials are stealing millions to keep their families in Nairobi, America, Australia, canada Etc.What is the Ministries of Public service and that of Finance doing.shame on you.You guys are incompetent and outdated so get out before it is too late.
Gatdelha
South Sudan to harmonize irregular salary structures
Why surprising!GoSS is being led by crooks who knew nothing about management of money! we must get rid of those crooks before we engage in a real developement in Southern Sudan! it is ludicrous to think postively about what could be dilvered by primitives and crooks such as wani iga and koul manyang juk, the graduates of Garang school of ignorance! you must be joking if you think they can do good than harm!
garang lual ayum
South Sudan to harmonize irregular salary structures
Iwould like to say that inapproriate salary scaling is used by state government mainly to selo-tape the bourgeosis who are the sole component of the three wings of the government so that they may not point out the government weaknesses, and it has been successfully done since the time of signing CPA and even now.
I do question our GOSS as to why should there be these big ranges in salary scale while the masses are not graunted the appropriate services. We pour money where it is needed but got used where it is not allocated.
for instance, Iam a teacher,and I never saw a Government built school in the last two and two third years in the Northern Bahr Ghazal State with all the budget allocated for construction and irrenovation in the state ministry of education.
with these in mind, I may say that they Populace are cheated and ignored while they were and still the sole supporters of our Moment
My GOSS, have you forsaken your supporters for good? Can’t you even look behind and feel symathy with the Widows, widowers and the orphan of the war?
why has money become our right enemy? Have we really forgotten that we still have the enemy till 2011?
Beware, that the common man and women we are neglecting today are our field of harvest for the success of the coming years.
I cry on behalf of our populace that the GoSS shouldn’t be like a duck whose ducklings are all taken by hawk while it is just going forwards on her journey.