The Government of South Sudan has pledged to resolve the ongoing dispute between university lecturers and the authorities by ensuring that both staff and non-staff salaries are paid in full. Vice President for Service Cluster, Hussain Abdebagi, recently discussed the payment issue with President Kirr at the State House. The government has promised to implement a new payment policy next month that includes a revised salary structure. This development was attended by the Minister of Higher Education, Minister of Finance, and other government officials.
Last month, the lecturers threatened to take industrial action if their demands were not met, prompting the President to order the Finance Minister to release their salaries immediately. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that university lecturers have protested against delayed salary payments by the government. In fact, earlier this month, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Juba, Professor John Akic, took to his official Facebook account to announce that he would resign from his position if the government did not pay the university’s staff.