(JUBA) – More than a dozen employees working in the office of South Sudan’s Vice President for the Services Cluster, Josephine Lagu, say they have been left without duties for six months, fuelling concerns they may be quietly replaced despite continuing to receive their salaries.
The staff members, drawn from units including finance, administration, procurement and public relations, told media that they were instructed to stay home shortly after Vice President Lagu was appointed by President Salva Kiir Mayardit on 10 February. They believe new staff have been brought in to take over their responsibilities.
The employees were originally appointed by the Ministry of Presidential Affairs during the tenure of General Hussein Abdelbagi Akol, who held the position of vice president for more than four years before being reassigned as minister of agriculture.
One employee alleged that newly recruited staff, including relatives of the current vice president, had replaced them.
“Currently we are more than 18 civil servants staying at home, but some of us realised that she was not planning to work with us,” the employee said.
Another staff member explained that the office was under renovation for several months, during which Lagu worked from her residence.
“After the office was renewed last month, we tried to go there but we were told we will be called. We don’t think that we will be called because it has been a long time and they are recruiting new staff,” the employee added.
The employees confirmed that they are still being paid by the Ministry of Labour but said their continued absence from work suggests a looming termination. They also expressed concern that some of their former roles are now being carried out by new personnel, some of them working as volunteers in exchange for allowances.
“Our worry is that we are redundant,” said one worker. “We are considered by the Ministry of Presidential Affairs as employees of the vice president’s office, but when we go to the vice president’s office we are told we are former employees.”
Stephen Petia, Director of Human Resources at the Ministry of Presidential Affairs, rejected claims that the staff had been dismissed. He explained that the absence of the employees was linked to renovation works.
“If you are getting your salaries then you are not terminated. All of our staff are getting their salaries and all their allowances,” Petia told media. “The office of the vice president was being relocated and furnished, and this process has now been completed. It is just a matter of informing them to return to work.”
Petia insisted that the staff remain officially employed and urged them to verify their names on the government payroll as proof.
Vice President Josephine Lagu, who represents the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) under the 2018 peace agreement, has now resumed work in the renovated office, though it has not yet been formally inaugurated. Attempts to obtain a comment from her office or the accounting officer were unsuccessful.
