By William Madouk<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As South Sudan waved bye-bye to 2024, the nation has made a record in history as the first to go an entire year without paying civil servants and organized forces. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n This record situation has put many into misery. As the year draws to a close, reflections on a year filled with hardship have become normal among the public.<\/p>\n Undoubtedly, 2024 has been a difficult year for many South Sudanese. As 2025 draws near, citizens, like people everywhere, are reflecting on the past year and hoping for a brighter future, despite their country’s harsh economic conditions.<\/p>\n This year has presented numerous challenges, including hyperinflation, rising commodity prices, and, despite relative calm, several states have reported high rates of conflict and intercommunal violence.<\/p>\n Speaking off the record to the No. 1 Citizen newspaper, several civil servants shared that they continue to report to work out of love for their country and a desire for change. They urged the government to make a concerted effort to pay their outstanding salaries as soon as possible.<\/p>\n \u201cWe work because we love our country. If we stop working, who will take over for us? All we ask is that the South Sudanese government works twice as hard to pay salaries on time,\u201d they pleaded.<\/p>\n Peter Lam Both, the Secretary-General of the Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Movement (SPLM), stated in an interview with Eye Radio that 2025 will be a year of hope for South Sudan.<\/p>\n \u201cI want them to know that we are working very hard to ensure that they receive their salaries. This year, 2025, might be a different year for our people,\u201d Lam was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n He revealed that the government is intensifying efforts to restore oil production and improve tax collection to boost the economy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are working very hard to resume oil operations and ensure appropriate tax collection so that people can earn money to fulfill government obligations,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n He praised civil servants as hardworking, resilient nationalists for spending an entire year without pay.<\/p>\n \u201cI have witnessed something in our people that I have never seen in anyone else in the world. I want to tell the South Sudanese that they are true heroes of our liberation because they wake up in the morning, come to work, and return home with nothing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n During a recent Governors\u2019 Forum, Lakes State Governor Rin Tueny expressed deep concern over the ongoing delays in salary payments for the state’s 13,000 workforce.<\/p>\n Rin questioned how he could justify these persistent delays to civil servants, many of whom depend solely on their government salaries for their families’ survival.<\/p>\n \u201cThe delay in salaries for civil servants and organized forces continues to affect morale, work performance, and increase crime. The issue of salary is a serious matter,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can no longer call it a delay; it simply does not exist at all. In Lakes State, we have 13,980 workers, and we have been promising them every month to be patient\u2014it’s been one year now.\u201d<\/p>\n Governor Rin emphasized that the South Sudanese are the most resilient people on Earth, having endured an entire year without receiving salaries.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere are we going? With salaries, people can buy services. I find it hard to describe our people because they are so resilient\u2014one year without pay. When I sit alone as a leader, how do I feel?\u201d he inquired.<\/p>\n According to a new report released in December 2024, more than 70 percent of South Sudan\u2019s population currently lives below the poverty line.<\/p>\n The report, titled \u201cSouth Sudan Poverty and Equity Assessment,\u201d was released in Juba by the World Bank Group and the South Sudan National Bureau of Statistics.<\/p>\n It indicates that poverty has become endemic in the world\u2019s youngest country following a decade of economic decline.<\/p>\n A 2022 economic survey revealed that 76 percent of South Sudan\u2019s population lives below the annual poverty line of 358,724 South Sudan Pounds (SSP) per person.<\/p>\n Furthermore, the Sudanese civil war, which began in April 2023, has adversely affected the South Sudanese economy, disrupting the flow of oil, the country\u2019s main source of income. By William Madouk As South Sudan waved bye-bye to 2024, the nation has made a record in history as the first to go an entire year without paying civil servants and organized forces. This record situation has put many into misery. As the year draws to a close, reflections[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":32125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Courtesy-photo.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32124"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32126,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32124\/revisions\/32126"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nSome civil servants have not received their salaries since November 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"