By Anak Dut

The former Commissioner of Lainya County, Emmanuel Khamis Richard has called on the State government to think outside the box to pay the salaries of the civil servants.

He said with the proper management of resources, the state government can pay its unclassified staff.

He was speaking to The City Review on the sidelines of the event for the swearing-in of the Central Equatoria State’s newly appointed constitutional post-holders yesterday.

“They should think outside the box so that they can be able to take responsibility and pay the salaries of civil servants,” he said.

Khamis who also served as the acting Mayor of Juba Council, said that there are sources of revenue such as the state revenues and the grants that come from the national government.

“If well managed, can be used to pay the salaries of the employees of Central Equatoria State.”

“We cannot be paying ourselves as political postholders and our civil servants go without salaries,” Khamis lamented.

He asserted that without the civil servants, the clerks, cleaners, the messengers, the bodyguards in the government, the minister, or the governor cannot work alone in the office.

“The political leaders need to change their mindset, instead of taking care of themselves, they should think of the civil servants, And the only way for people to feel the presence of government is when a civil servant can get his or her little salary so that to be able to pay children in schools,” he said.

According to him, the state government should come up with modalities in which there must be a category of civil servants to be paid by the state.

“You cannot be complaining all the time and expect that the national government sends money to pay even unclassified staff in the state.”

“So, as leaders of this state, let us think outside the box,” Khamis said.