Gabriel Changson Lew Chang, Minister of Higher Education - Credit: Office of the President - September 8, 2022

The academic staff at Bahr el Ghazal University have accused the Minister of Higher Education of misrepresenting their demand for salary arrears.

On December 1, 2022, Minister Gabriel Changson Lew Chang wrote to Vice President Hussein Abdelgbagi the concerns of the University staff.

In the letter, the Minister said he met with the president in the company of the Minister of Finance and Planning.

According to him, the finance minister, Dier Tong confirmed the 100% increment of salaries for the public universities staff, but he said it was not the best approach.

He then proposed the development of a new salary structure that is now before the service cluster and the cabinet.

The meeting came after the minister of Higher Education met with the university staff.

However, the chairperson of the academic staff at Bahr el Ghazal University told Eye Radio, the staff needed urgent implementation of last year’s new salary scale according to the current bank inflation rate.

Lecturer Joseph Lual Dario also says they need immediate payment of all their arrears as of July this year.

He calls on Minister Gabriel Changson Chang to take action on the demands.

“We want to send a message to the public that our issue in the universities is that we need the salary rate to be adjusted because we are receiving a lower rate,” Lual told Eye Radio.

“We need the new rate that have been put according to the central bank, the current rate of the inflation of the central bank of South Sudan, should be made,

“We are not after the new salary structure, we are after the adjustment only, adjustment on salary rate,

“Minister is now putting us in another corner which is making everything difficult, the minister is not taking any action. We have written many letters to him, and he promised but did not take action.”

This morning, the academic staff at Bahr el Ghazal University issued a new statement calling off the industrial strike to conduct exams starting from 9^TH of December.

They plan to resume the strike during the opening of the next academic semester in January.