Absenteeism among state ministers in Upper Nile curtails gov’t performance – governor

JUBA – The governor of South Sudan’s Upper Nile state General Obudhok Ayang Kur has decried absenteeism among his ministers, saying most ministers sometimes don’t come to offices for over a month, something he said undermine government efforts to deliver services.

Speaking in an interview published by the independent Radio Tamazuj yesterday, Governor Abudhok said absenteeism is affecting service delivery by the government and was forced at some points to order for ministers not to leave Malakal, but the ministers stay in Juba for a month when they go for training.

“It is affecting service delivery. I have issued an order that the ministers should not leave Malakal. Most of the ministers have been going to Juba to attend workshops, and after workshops, they do not come back immediately; they stay for almost a month in Juba,” he said.

“I said workshops would be stopped,” he added.

The governor further said that he has been staying in Malakal purposely to create confidence among the civil population in order to improve security, but said the ministers do not understand the fact that security needs to be improved by presence of governor officials in Upper Nile state.

“As the governor, I have been staying in Malakal for almost a year, I did not go to Juba, so I worked on improving the security situation. But our ministers do not understand this point. Some ministers say that we are going for a workshop, or one would come and say that my party in Juba has invited me,” Gen. Abudhok said.

“The absenteeism of ministers is affecting us a lot because it slows down the work and service delivery. The primary responsibility of a minister is to provide services to the people. The time has come for us to be serious and stop the travels of state ministers to Juba. This is what I am going to do,” he added.