The South Sudan administration is probing the strike and investigating demonstrations in Jonglei state.

The government has sent a team to Bor, Jonglei State, to examine the demonstrations, according to the Ministry of Public Service and Human Resources Development.

Government employees have been protesting for almost three weeks over what they say is the state’s noncompliance with the 100% compensation increase.

The Minister for Public Service and Human Resources Development, Joseph Bangasi Bakosoro, said that the committee will look into why the wages had not been paid on time.

Following their arrival in Bor yesterday, the committee will investigate the facts and report back to President Salva Kiir as soon as members return to Juba.

“We met with the President last Thursday, and we decided at the discussion that we needed to send a team to Bor to investigate the protests and discover why government officials are not getting paid and what the difficulties are,” he added.

The Workers’ Trade Union petitioned President Salva Kiir on Monday for assistance in resolving their issues with the state administration over unpaid salary and purported perks.

They wanted a 100% wage increase with a “nature of job allowance” in the letter.

They also wanted a “new teachers’ allowance,” which they said was authorized by the national Ministry of General Education and Instruction, chalk allowances, and, ultimately, an “infection allowance” for medical workers.

They pledged to continue protesting until the state administration accepted their demands.

Last Thursday, President Kiir called Bakosoro and Jonglei State Governor Denay Jock Chagor to inform him on the matter of government workers in Jonglei State.

According to the president’s office, the summit also addressed security concerns including retaliatory murders, which seemed to be impeding peaceful cohabitation between Jonglei State and the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA).

Bakosoro warned residents to avoid protests over wages that have already been authorized.

“Bakosoro appealed to the public and people of Jonglei State to avoid useless riots since their wages have been raised to 100%,” said a statement from the President’s office.

Governor Chagor urged government personnel to follow the law and be calm while waiting for their payments.

On the tenth anniversary of South Sudan’s independence, President Kiir promised a 100 percent increase in government sector salary.

The Minister for Public Service and Human Resource Development, Joseph Bangasi Bakosoro, stated to the City Review that the pay raise would be contingent on the Ministry of Finance releasing the paychecks.

“Getting that enhanced wage would rely on the Ministry of Finance and Planning,” Bakosoro said, adding that “we have done our part as the ministry responsible.”

“It is a 100% wage rise, which implies that if you are earning SSP5,000, you would receive SSP10,000 [after] the increment,” Bakasoro told City Review over the phone yesterday.

During the inauguration of the present Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Agak Achuil Lual, the president exhorted him to fight corruption and not follow in the footsteps of his predecessors.

He requested that he expose any corrupt person in his Ministry who receives bribes if he is unable to fire him or her. The president warned the finance minister about not paying government personnel and the armed forces on schedule.

The finance minister promised to pay wages on schedule and to combat inflation, which has paralyzed the country’s economy.