(WAU) – Health workers at Wau Teaching Hospital in Western Bahr el Ghazal State are appealing to the national government to urgently pay their salary arrears, saying they have not received any regular wages for over a year.
According to Pancracio Duku, Secretary for Information of the workers’ trade union, the last monthly salary paid to staff was for April 2024. As of July 2025, this means staff have worked for more than 14 months without receiving payment.
In addition to the salary delay, the hospital’s employees have also lost a small monthly incentive that was previously supported by UNICEF. That supplementary payment had been helping workers cope with the country’s worsening economic situation.
Duku told Radio Miraya that, despite these difficult conditions, staff at the hospital from senior doctors to basic support workers like cleaners have continued performing their duties to serve the public.
“Despite the difficult conditions, the staff, from doctors to cleaners, continue to perform their duties in service to the nation,” he said.
He stressed that while hospital employees are committed to public service, they also need to feed their families and meet their basic needs. Duku urged the government to respect hospital staff by ensuring they are paid on time.
The appeal reflects broader concerns across South Sudan’s public service sector, where delayed salary payments have become common due to a mix of economic challenges, currency inflation and poor budget execution.
UNICEF’s prior incentive programme was a stopgap measure intended to support frontline health workers amid economic shocks, including the COVID-19 aftermath and rising inflation. However, many of these external support programmes have now scaled down or ended.
The union’s call comes as the country continues to face pressing healthcare needs. With cholera outbreaks in some areas and rising cases of malnutrition, health workers remain essential to South Sudan’s fragile public health system.
Duku urged the government not only to settle the pending arrears but also to improve conditions for health workers across the country to ensure better public health outcomes.
