With more than SSP5.1 billion already in the coffers of the government to help repulse the threat posed by coronavirus, concerns have emerged about the welfare of the frontline staff working overtime to ensure the country is safe.
The questions were raised after the Egyptian government donated money and equipment to the South Sudan government to fight Covid-19.
According to Mohamed Kedah, the Egyptian ambassador to South Sudan (pictured above), Juba needs support to combat the virus that has already overwhelmed countries with more advanced healthcare.
“We have received aid from Egypt to combat the coronavirus in South Sudan. Eleven tonnes of medicines in addition to 15 tonnes of medical supplies, which include medical jackets for medical personnel,” Kedah told the press at the Juba International Airport on Wednesday.
The donations that also consist of food items came as workers in government health institutions downed tools citing dangerous working conditions and neglect. They want to be paid salary arrears stretching three months back.
Some of the workers told The City Review they render critical services without salary. The situation is even dire since the onset of the coronavirus. On Wednesday last week, the Public Health Emergency Operation Centre was forced to close by workers to draw government attention.
The Rapid Response Team, a group tasked with delivering emergency services has also halted operations, according to sources familiar with the turn of events.
It is happening at a time the cases of coronavirus have soared to scary levels. While they have currently resumed duties, a source who spoke anonymously said the workers have given the government a five-day ultimatum to pay their salaries, and failure to act accordingly will bring their services to a halt again.
This came after the Minister for Health Elizabeth Acuei pleaded with the staff to resume work, promising to settle their grievances in the quickest time possible.
With several senior government officials infected and in quarantine, social, political, and economic opinion leaders in the country question how the donations are being appropriated. They say some of the money should have been used to pay, not just health workers, but also other civil servants.
“With all the funding in their millions in either euros or dollars, our only Covid-19 testing center is closed down over poor working conditions and payments. Where is this huge funding going?” Wani Michael, political policy analyst questioned.
On April 19, the World Bank gave South Sudan $7.6 million in response to the government request and to help the country better manage the Covid-19 pandemic and strengthen national systems of public health preparedness.
“The Covid-19 outbreak is expected to overwhelm South Sudan’s weak public health system and response and may have a social and economic impact on South Sudan in the form of increased food insecurity and deepening poverty and other vulnerabilities,” Husam Abudagga, the World Bank Country Manager for South Sudan said at the time.
The US government donated $8 million on April 2, when the country had no confirmed case of coronavirus. After the first case of the virus, the US made an additional donation of $2 million on May 20, 2020.
As part of their regional contribution to fight coronavirus, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) gave the government of South Sudan $100,000 in the same month, bringing the total summation of $17.7 million (SSP5.1 billion).
Contacted, Ministry of Health spokesman Thuou Loi declined to comment, saying he was out of office.