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Seven hundred teachers refuse incentives citing less pay

At least seven hundred and sixteen teachers have rejected incentives citing less pay.

Teachers spoke to Akol Yam Nine One said they disagreed with the team paying the incentive after deducting 2,400 Pounds.

The teachers claimed that the committee have deducted over one million seven hundred thousand pounds from all teachers in Aweil South County. A claimed we can’t independence verify.

They call on the ministry of education and implementing agent UNICEF to investigate and give them reasons of deduction.

They warned to lay down their tools if this matters is not address since many of them have been volunteering for years..

” We are not happy with the committee who came to schools for payment because the salary is under chapter one. If the administration wants to take a pound, they can take permission first, but they cut 2400 pounds without proper permission.”

” No written document that shows there is the reason why they have deducted this amount, also they threaten us not to talk about the issue saying that if you revealed this information any media, they will dismiss us from work.”

” We are ready to leave this job because we have been saving the community voluntarily for so many years. If the administration sees this incentive is too much and it is not equal with the work we are doing here, then let ministry dismiss us.”

Santino Bol Akok, the minister of education in Northern Bhar El Ghazal state, says his office is not aware of what is happening in the field.

Bol promised to investigate the teachers concern.

” During the launching of teacher’s incentive payment, I instructed all committee going out to pay teachers incentive at five counties that each is in title to get 21, 400 pounds. But there has been no complaint came to my office since Wednesday this week. Am requesting teachers who have objections to remain calm and allow state ministry of education to establish the fact on the matter.”

Early this week, at least forty-seven schools across the state were reported to miss out on the list of payments.

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Jonglei and Pibor reiterate commitment to peace

The Greater Pibor Administrative Area and Jonglei State have recommitted fostering peace and security among their local populations by improving working relations and implementing agreed resolutions.

The commitment was made during a meeting held in Bor town yesterday, between Chief administrator Lokali Amae and Jonglei governor Denay Jock Chagor.

Denay Chagor told reporters he agreed with his counterpart from Pibor to improve working relations to forge peace in the region.

“Today, we meet here again to finally sign a peace agreement that we have all been doing locally. This peace has been homegrown. It started in Pieri, and today, we signed it side by side. We have to keep the government accountable.” Chagor said

The chief Administrator for the Greater Pibor administrative area, Lokali Amea, hopes to restore peace among the communities.

“We came together as the governments of Jonglei and Greater Pibor because we are committed to peace,” Amea said

Amea further stated that his government is engaging the youth and community leaders to hand abductees. He called the Jonglei Authority to apply the same policy of engagement to ensure people abducted reunite with their families on both sides.

In May this year, representatives of Lou Nuer, Dinka Bor, and the Murle, made during a 10- day grass-root peace conference concluded in the Pieri area in Uror County of Jonglei State.

The delegates agreed on returning all those abducted from all the communities, ending violence, allowing for free movement of traders, and punishing those found in defiance of peace conference resolutions.

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 UN calls for the formation of states parliaments to expertise the priority bills 

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan says the establishment of the States Assembly is required to work closely with the Transitional parliament to review and enact the bills on security, financial, and judiciary reforms.

Deputy Head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Mr. Guang Cong made this call during the plenary session of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission in Juba. He says parties should speed up the formation of the remaining institutions outlined in the peace agreement.

“The various specialized committee should be established without delay giving their criticality in the parliamentary proceeding. This step should be followed by establishments of states Legislative Assembly and national commissions,” Cong said.

The Minister of Cabinets Affairs, Dr. Martin Elias Lomoro, said parties already submitted the lists of their states’ MPs waiting to be named.

“The ITGoNu, SPLM_IO, and SSOA have submitted their list of representatives to the states parliament, and these are all compiled ready for an appointment. Again, the dispute between OPP parties has delayed the submission of their eight representatives. However, a decision has been taken to appoint the ten states members of parliament with the exclusion of OPP parties as was the case in R-TNLA and Council of States,” Dr. Elias stated.

He (Lomoro) further unveils the government induction plan to the state’s cabinets to implement the agreement, collegiality to improve working relations, and good governance. “The Ministry of Cabinets Affairs is waiting for the budget to conduct state – state induction training coverings cabinets decision-making process and good governance in general.”

The peace Monitoring mechanism also highlights the status of the Revitalized agreement’s implementation. 

RJMEC Chairperson Charles Tai Gituai said despite progress made on the implementation of the deal. Parties behind the schedules in the agreement chapter include the graduation of forces and the permanent constitution-making process. “According to the agreement, it is 16 months to the end of the Transitional period.” 

Gituai called the Unity government to provide a concrete plan to implement the outstanding tasks in the remainder of the Transitional Period.

This week, a South Sudan Civil Rights Activist said peace implementation is at risk and proposed graduation of Unify forces likely be affected by a military coup in Sudan. The Joint Defense Board announced the troops’ graduates in the first week of November.

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60 disabled school children registered in Warrap state

At least 60 children with disabilities have been registered in Twic County Warrap state.

The children are from various schools, 36 boys and 24 girls as part of a program that is targeting one thousand and eighty (1080) disabled children to access education.

Mr. Tong Deng Buok is an education officer for inclusive working for Adventist Relief Agency (ADRA)in Twic County.

He said that their goal is to ensure every child with physical condition have access to education.

“Disabled children are mostly excluded and often stay invisible due to high level of stigma and physical abuses” said Deng.

He said his organization will provide wheelchairs and cater medical care of children with severe illness.

Mr. Deng also urges everyone in the community that have disabled child to send them to school.

He appeals to the families to provide home good care so that they feel included and participate fully in social activities.

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Patients in Bor say health worker’s strike has left them stranded

Some patients who visit Bor state hospital said no doctors or nurses attend to them. Early this week, health workers in Bor Jonglei state issued an ultimatum unless the government listened to them and cleared their arrears.

A mother of three years daughter Ms.Akon Atem said her child is severely suffering from malaria.

She stated they spent two days in the hospital admission word and could not get any treatment. Ms. Atem said the child is in severe pain, and no doctor or nurse is attending to her.

She said that her child is supposed to be given a Quinine drip, but doctors and nurses left the facilities, leaving them helpless. “The doctors came and told us that they will not be working today. Only God knows what will happen to us,” said Akon.

Another resident in Bor Nyang Akol Majak said she came to see a doctor with her son, who has skin rashes. Surprisingly, she found the outpatients’ department locked and the doctor absent.

She appeals to the government to address the issue quickly and save lives at the hospital.
Doctor Ajak Garang Akech, who works in Bor hospital, says they stopped working until their grievances were met.

Mr.Chot Kueth Kulong is the director-general in the state ministry of health in Jonglei. He said that he is aware of the doctor’s ongoing strike.

He urges doctors to return to work and save lives while discussing with partners to solve the incentives issue. “Within the next two weeks, I hope that they will get their incentives,” Kulong said.

The health workers have been demanding unpaid covid 19 risk incentives and personal protective equipment for safety.

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35 gangs youth escape at Bor military detention

Security officials in South Sudan’s Jonglei state capital Bor say at least 35 suspected youth gang members detained at a military barracks have broken the detention center and escaped.

This month, Jonglei state crackdown youth groups are commonly known as “Nigga” accused of mastermind attacks, night robberies, and acts of terrorized citizens.

Residents in the Jonglei state capital Bor have been accusing the security forces of harassing and abusing civilians’ rights in the guise of executing an order to crack down the gangs’ groups.

General Ajak Ayuen Mach is the head of the Joint Operations Force. he says the thirty-five youth were detained at Malual Chaat military barracks.

He claimed the suspects used a master key to unlock the cuffs on their feet before breaking the entrance and escaping.

“Only ten people were left in chains, and 35 people unlocked their feet because there were 45 people arrested,” Mach said.

Mach says three officers on duty have been arrested, including a police commander alleged to sneak a master key used by the suspects to escape. And the investigation is underway to trace them individually.

One resident in Bor, Bartholomew Deng, worried that the gang member might retaliate and wreak havoc in the town.

“It’s very unfortunate that these law violators have escaped from the prison, and they are now in an unknown place. As a layman person in the town, I look at it as a bit dangerous. They will go to any ordinary citizen in town,” Deng said.

Deng urges the security forces to hunt down and re-arrest the suspects and ensure they are arraigned in court immediately.

Last week, relatives of some of the detained suspects decried arbitrary detention of their relatives in unknown locations for weeks without trial. They urged the state authorities to either release their relatives or immediately have them charged in a court of law.

The police said the suspects would be arraigned in court after some of their leaders who were on the run were apprehended.

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Unifies forces’ graduation risk to delay amidst Sudan coup

A South Sudan Civil Rights Activist says peace implementation is at risk and proposed graduation of Unify forces likely be affected by a military coup in Sudan. Earlier this month, the Joint Defense Board announced the troops’ graduates in the first week of November.

The Activist expressed deep concern over the future of peace implementation in South Sudan and called the government to engage coup leaders in Sudan to allow dialogue between civilians and military.

On Monday, the Military takeover power in Sudan announced the dissolution of the transitional government and the sovereign council and declared a national state of emergency.

Security forces in Sudan’s capital Khartoum were reported to arrest at least five ministers, advisors to the prime ministers, and other political figures. Military forces also had placed prime minister Dr: Abdalla Hamdok under house arrest on Monday. 

On Tuesday report suggested that Abdalla Hamdok, the deposed prime minister of Sudan, has been allowed to return home a day after the country’s military detained him after seizing power in a coup.

General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who seems to be the coup leader, addressed the news media on Tuesday said the Prime Minister is safe with other senior government and his family.

The situation in Sudan raised the alarm in South Sudan’s peace process. Edmund Yakani is the Executive Director of Community Empowerment and Progress Organization -CEPO. He says peace soldiers’ graduation is likely to delay due to the lack of an IGAD Chair to endorse the process.

“If we’re pursuing graduation of unified forces, which may be in November, and we don’t have a legal Chair of IGAD, will the military leaders stand on behalf of IGAD to endorse the graduation? The current leadership in Sudan is not legitimate.”

“So, the two referees (Sudan and Ethiopia) who have the power of the yellow card and red card are in their internal crisis. That will weaken the pressure on the parties to the peace agreement in South Sudan,” Yakani said.

The Activist warned that Sudan’s situation should not be used to expand the duration of the Unity government in South Sudan and create more delay on peace implementation.

“It’s not a good lesson for South Sudan to learn out of it, not a best practice. As South Sudanese, our prime responsibility is to tell the world that we are committed to implementing the revitalized agreement,” he stressed.

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Health Workers in Bor threaten to protest, gives 48 hours ultimatum

Health workers at Bor State Hospital threaten to go on strike over unpaid incentives and poor working conditions. Doctors say the plan to walk off the job and look for greener pastures came as frustration for not being paid regularly make it difficult to support their families.

Doctor Goop Joh Ayom, representing the medical staff at Bor state hospital, narrated that health workers have gone for more than two months without incentives. Doctor Ayom further says she and other medical staff will walk off the job if the government does not address their grievances within the next 48 hours.

“We are suffering, and we need our incentives. Even here in the hospital, we don’t have essential drugs; we write papers to patients to go outside and buy drugs, and some patients cannot afford the drugs. After 72 hours, if there is no response, we will stop working. Only 48 hours are remaining.” Ayom said

Doctor Ayom says it is difficult for medical personnel to treat patients in the emergency room without lifesaving drugs, which they ran out of 3 months ago. She says patients have been dying due to a lack of medicine at the facility.

Nurse John Anyieth Malaak says the medical staff has persevered despite the situation hoping their incentives would be paid but are now feeling frustrated.

 “Up to this juncture, there is not any single paracetamol in the hospital, and patients are sent out to go and buy drugs. And that is the difficult situation we are in. When there is an emergency, we struggle to ensure that the patient’s relative reaches the nearby clinic to bring any emergency drug needed. Otherwise, we have no drugs to help the patients.” Anyieth said

Deng Nhial works with Medico Del Mundo, an NGO paying incentives for medical staff at Bor State Hospital declined to comment.

Jonglei state health Minister Atong Kuol Manyang says she is aware of the doctors’ request and apologized for the delay in paying their incentives but urged the hospital’s medical staff to continue working and saving lives, saying the government will soon address their grievances.

 “We know they are right; this is their incentive, and they deserve to be paid that looking at the type of work that they do saving people’s lives, so we know that they work hard, we rely on them for the health of our community, and we know the important role they play within the health sector” she added.

Minister Manyang urges the Bor hospital medical staff to be patient, saying the ministry will resolve their grievances.

Incentives for staff at Bor state hospital range from 100 to 600 US dollars. A medical doctor receives 600 dollars, a clinical officer gets 400 dollars, while nurses and midwives receive 300 dollars.

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Jonglei teachers receive three-month incentives

One thousand, one hundred fifty teachers in Jonglei state have received incentives from the European Union’s quick impact project on Monday.

Education authority says each teacher paid 21,400 Pound, an equivalence of 120 US dollars for only public schools the state owned.

The money is covering a period of three, May, June, and July this year respectively. 

Deng David Buol, is a teacher at Kapat primary school in Bor. He encourages the European Union to pay the incentives monthly as the project boasts teachers motivation.

“These incentives are helping us that’s the first thing I can put forward, but the challenge is that they delayed they don’t come on time, but all in all, they are helping teachers a lot for those of us who will be getting this support it will help our families and ourselves as teachers.”

One of the female teachers Adol Deng Bior, says the instructors face difficult situations due to low pa. She called the government to improve teachers’ motivation to keep them in the profession. 

“I may say that the government should motivate teachers well because they are developing the country. Suppose there are no teachers in the country. In that case, the country will not prosper, and there are teacher’s children will receive a quality education in the country, and the country will be developed, so please motivate teachers very well.”.

The Director of the Bor county education department, Gabriel Panchol Anyang, commend the efforts of partners supporting the education sector in South Sudan. He says the incentives cover the gap of salary delay.

UNICEF implements the Quick Impact Project in collaboration with the Ministry of General Education and Instruction (MoGEI) and with support from the European.

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Eight Fistula patients receive a repair in Juba

The health authority has reported the successful operation of eight patients with fistula cases from Jonglei state who underwent surgery at Juba Teaching Hospital on Friday.

South Sudan Nurses and Midwifery Association initiate the process of providing medication to affected people without charge.

A fistula is a permanent abnormal passageway between two organs in the body, caused mainly by complicated delivery. The UNFPA organization supports the program through the International Rescue Committee (IRC) organization.

Mary Anok is one of the patients who underwent surgery in Juba.

After battling fistula for two years, she shares her happiness through Mingkaman 100 FM and says she is restored.

“I was successfully operated, and I am thankful to the doctors and organizers. I am restored, and do not worry again. Now, I want to tell my fellow women battling fistula in their homes and fear disclosing in the hospital. This is the right time to use these services for free. Comfort is the best, and there is nothing to fear in health.”

Mawut Awan Kuoni is the public relations officer at South Sudan Nurses and Midwifery Association.

He says they are again calling for women with fistula to register with his office in Bor to undergo operations scheduled for the second week of November.

“We are calling on another group to register with us in these two weeks to go for fistula operation. It is free of charge and available for you. You can get me at Bor emergency ward. That is where I work, and I will register your names and get your contact to keep you updated about the day for surgery.”

Kuoi further stated that Amref Health Africa organization will provide free transport and treatment to the registered beneficiaries in the coming operations.

Last year, 200 fistula patients were operated on without cost in Aweil, Northern Bahr El Gazal.