Government Workers Battle Hunger as Salaries Stall

By Awan Achiek

Government workers in South Sudan are struggling to feed their families amid ongoing salary delays.

Many soldiers and public employees find it difficult to provide for their families due to low and overdue salary payments.

Garang Deng, a sergeant in the South Sudan People’s Defense Force (SSPDF), has not received his pay for 15 months and has expressed that he has lost hope.

“Now I have to cut trees, make them into charcoal, and sell them to sustain my family,” Deng said.

Public employees, including civil servants, judges, university lecturers, doctors, and teachers, have gone without pay for all of 2024.

Salary arrears for government employees were only received in January, February, March, and April of 2025.

The cash-strapped government is struggling to pay its employees as the country’s dire economic situation worsens and inflation soars.

Deng, a father of four, noted that salary delays have led to family breakups.

“The wives of the comrades have deserted them because they are unable to feed them,” he said.

“Most of the soldiers sleep on empty stomachs, and some are working on the farms of the wealthy to earn a living.”

A private in the army receives 40,000 South Sudanese pounds (about $10), which can only buy 10 kilograms of maize flour, priced at SSP 40,000.

In 2022, the government of South Sudan announced a 100% salary increase for its soldiers, followed by a proposed increment of 400% approved by parliament in August 2023.

Jacob Thon Dhiei, a government employee, said that salary delays hinder his ability to meet his family’s needs.

Thon, a father of two, is a Grade 9 employee who receives only 80,000 South Sudanese pounds ($14) after several months, which is insufficient to support his family.

“I am not 100% able to provide for them, in terms of school fees and feeding myself, let alone paying for school fees, because feeding is now very expensive,” Thon said.

He mentioned that civil servants are either seeking additional work or leaving their positions due to delayed and insufficient pay.

“I have been surviving through friends, and I am doing a lot of other work besides this. I used to teach in some private schools where I could earn something to survive,” he said.

“As I speak to you now, I don’t know what my family will eat later, and if I don’t get it from someone, then my family will not have anything to eat today.”

He said he suspended his child’s education this year due to a lack of school fees.

“It is difficult for me. I have two kids now, but this year, my child is not going to school because I am unable to pay the school fees for my children.”

South Sudan’s economy has faced pressure in recent years, with crude oil export revenue dwindling since 2013.

The economic outlook has worsened due to the disruption of crude oil exports via Port Sudan amid the ongoing civil war in neighboring Sudan, which erupted on 14 April 2023.

The South Sudan Pound (SSP) has been steadily depreciating against the U.S. dollar, leading to significant inflation.

Riak Kur Riak, deputy headteacher of Malek Secondary School in Bor town, Jonglei State, said salary delays and poor working conditions are lowering teachers’ morale, resulting in a decline in the quality of education.

“It has reduced the morale of teachers and the teaching staff in the school. Therefore, the effectiveness of school activities has not been maintained due to the delay in salaries,” Kur said.

Kur disclosed that teachers in Jonglei State have not received salary arrears for the whole of 2024.

“We didn’t receive anything for the whole of 2024; we only received it in 2025, in January and February. But for now, there is no other salary we have received.”

The long-serving teacher at the oldest school in Bor urged the government to invest more in public schools to improve the quality of education.

In Juba, lecturers and other professionals have taken to the streets to protest over unpaid wages, fortunately without any interference from security forces.

Dr Jemma Nunu Kumba, Speaker of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA), stated that the delay in salary payments has worsened the economic crisis in the country.

She called for urgent government action to address these issues.

“Delays in the payment of government salaries and inadequate delivery of basic public services have greatly exacerbated the situation,” Nunu said.

Patricia Powers Thomson, founding dean of the School of Public Service at the University of Juba, said that the problem of salary delays can only be resolved through political will and creative budgeting.

“The size of the pay backlog makes a quick solution difficult; a more creative approach will be required, such as a regime of paying two months’ salary every month until all arrears have been settled.”

Dr. Marial Dongrin Ater, Minister of Finance and Planning, admitted that the non-payment of salaries is due to a shortage of cash.

“We have been able to pay for the past seven months’ salaries without fail, but that money goes into the account without cash. So, getting cash is the biggest problem,” he said.

Dr. Dongrin noted that while salaries have been paid consistently for seven months, liquidity remains scarce.

Civil servants have repeatedly complained that while they receive monthly salary notifications, banks often turn them away due to a lack of cash.