VP Bol vows to clear civil servants’ salary arrears

JUBA – South Sudan’s newly appointed Vice President for the Economic Cluster, Benjamin Bol Mel, has pledged to prioritize clearing salary arrears for civil servants and the organized forces who have gone for nearly a year without being paid.

Bol Mel, a prominent businessman-turned-politician, made the remarks on Wednesday during his swearing-in ceremony in Juba, days after President Salva Kiir reshuffled key government positions in which Bol was named to replace James Wani Igga as Vice-President for Economic Cluster.

“Today I got clear instruction during my swearing-in, the first is about economic reforms,” Bol Mel said.

He acknowledged the challenges of economic reforms, emphasizing that success would require hard work.

“Therefore, it is not going to be easy, but in my Economic Cluster, we will implement it, though it is not going to be easy.”

“The first thing that we are going to implement is salaries, we are not going to stop salaries for civil servants. First, salaries, then the rest will come,” he noted.

Bol Mel also called for economic diversification through agriculture, proposing a National Agriculture Conference to advance the country’s economic transformation.

“We will also work on individuals that are obstacles to our peace. For our economy to improve, we need peace,” he emphasized.

“I will talk with those who are so hard with those to discuss with. It says in the Bible where three or four people gather, God will be there, so we are going to discuss together. But again, whoever refuses to abide by the agreement will be out of the course,” he added.

South Sudan has gone for over a year without paying civil servants and organized forces, with salaries delayed for 11 months.

Bol Mel’s appointment follows a major shake-up by Kiir on Monday, in which Vice President Hussein Abdelbagi, who represented the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA), was dismissed and replaced by Josephine Joseph Lagu.

Kiir also removed SPLM Secretary-General Peter Lam Both, appointing James Wani Igga—who previously served as First Deputy Chairman and Vice President for the Economic Cluster—to the party’s top administrative position.