University of Bahr El Ghazal the latest University to declare a strike, just days after Rumbek University went to the streets demanding overdue salaries and allowances.

By Aguok Chok

The academic staff at the University of Bahr El Ghazal have declared a strike, demanding overdue salaries and allowances. “We cannot continue working under these conditions,” stated Joseph Lual Dario Deng, chairperson of the Academic Staff Association. This unprecedented action follows an extraordinary general assembly meeting where frustrations over delayed payments reached a boiling point.

The joint meeting on October 14, 2024, between the Academic Staff Association and the Workers Trade Union was to discuss the grievances over salaries that had accumulated over recent months. Staff members voiced their discontent over unpaid salaries stretching back 11 months, flight tickets that had not been honored since 2019, and unpaid medical allowances.

“We are united in our struggle for justice,” Deng emphasized. The meeting aimed to evaluate the situation and strategize for immediate action, culminating in the decision to strike until their demands are met.

The faculty’s resolve is strengthened by the pressing need for financial stability. Many articulated their frustrations during the assembly, expressing concerns about the impact of these delays on their families and livelihoods. “How can we educate our children or meet our basic needs when we haven’t been paid?” one lecturer lamented.

The decision to strike was not made lightly. The academic staff had hoped that the university’s administration and the Ministry of Finance and Planning would prioritize their grievances. However, with no resolutions in sight, the strike became the only viable option to ensure their voices were heard.

The University staff called for immediate payment of overdue salaries, payment of annual flight tickets owed since 2019, payment of medical allowances from 2019, and an adjustment of the salary scale in the fiscal year budget to reflect the current exchange rate in line with inflation.

“We will not return to work until these issues are resolved,” another staff member asserted. This situation has united various departments and faculty members.

This movement is not just about financial compensation. The prolonged financial neglect has instilled a sense of urgency among the staff. Many feel overlooked and undervalued by the administration. “We deserve to be treated with dignity,” one professor stated during the assembly.

The ramifications of this strike could extend beyond immediate financial issues. Disrupted classes may lead to significant setbacks in the university’s academic calendar, weighing heavily on the minds of faculty.

“We are hopeful that the Ministry of Finance and Planning will respond promptly to our demands,” Deng concluded. The determination of the academic staff signals that they will not relent until justice is served. As the strike continues, all eyes are on the administration and the government to see how they will respond to this pressing crisis.

In conclusion, the situation at the University of Bahr El Ghazal reflects broader issues of governance and accountability within institutions of higher education in South Sudan.

Situation in Rumbek University

Meanwhile, the Non-academic Staff Association of Rumbek University of Science and Technology threatened to strike from this week over lack of payment of their ten months’ salary from January to September 2024, and arrears of December 2023.

Speaking on the strike, Dut Majok Kurauai, the chairperson of the Association said they held a meeting that came up with a resolution that their delayed salaries, which have accumulated for ten months, be paid, making their call to the National Ministry of Finance and Planning to address the issues.

On his part, Sebit Jok Reech, the University’s Guild President called on the government to find an urgent solution and address the suffering experienced by the students, who had gone without lectures and food.

“On behalf of Rumbek University of Science and Technology’s General Students Assembly and on my own behalf, I would like to take this golden opportunity to bring into the attention of Hon. Minister of Higher Education and Science Technology that students are stranded in the university without lectures and feeding,” he said, and added:

“Since our lecturers have not been paid for more than 10 months, some of them who went for holiday are also constrained by lack of transport fares for them to come back to the University. Few of the lecturers who are on campus have put down their tools due to the same problem of salary not being paid for too long.”

While calling on the government to pay the lecturers promptly to bring them back to class, the Guild President also stated that the payment of the contractor in charge of students’ feeding, who had stopped supplying meals to the students, be paid so that the students are supplied food

“We are calling for the stakeholders to urgently and positively respond to our suffering, and for the National Ministry of Finance and Planning to immediately pay the money as to address our suffering and cushion the lives of students,” he said, stating their next course of action

“If nothing happens within seven days from now, students will go out in their numbers for a peaceful demonstration. We cannot afford to die of hunger in the campus, and also go without lectures. We will make our voices heard,” he said.

Notably, the country’s economy has faced challenges due to the ongoing war in Sudan, which has decreased oil revenues, the ripple effects taking a toll on the country’s workforce. 

The Ministry of Finance has explored various alternative avenues, to cushion the economy, with suggestions on non-oil revenues taking centre-stage.

“We are hopeful that the Ministry of Finance and Planning will respond promptly to our demands,” stated Joseph Lual Dario Deng, chairperson of the Academic Staff Association, University of Bahr El Ghazal.