In South Sudan, protests are emerging against the cost of living and for the payment of civil servants’ salaries, which have not been paid for more than eight months. The latest was on Tuesday, July 2. Teachers at Rumbek University, in the center of the country, took to the streets to demand payment of their salaries.
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With our correspondent in Juba, Florence Miettaux
At South Sudanthere economic crisis has been made worse by the war in neighboring Sudan, which has led to the halt of more than 60% of South Sudan’s oil exports. These petrodollars make up more than 90% of the state’s revenue, and its finances are drying up. The local currency, the South Sudanese pound, has lost more than half its value since the beginning of 2024. The country is experiencing record inflation, according to a World Bank report from mid-June. South Sudan is suffering from food price inflation of 164%, the highest in the world.
Strikes and protests have taken place in several cities in recent days, including Bor. The latest demonstration since protests began to gather in South Sudan was on Tuesday. Bol Deng Bol heads the civil society organization Intrepid South Sudan, based in Bor, the capital of the eastern state of Jonglei. Two protests took place there, on June 17 and 24, to protest the rising cost of living. Prices are very high on the market. There are aggravating factors such as insecurity that prevents people from leaving the city to cultivate and improve their daily lives or high taxes on small businesses, not to mention the delay in salaries. All this has contributed to making life very expensive, with extremely high inflation. ” he explains.
Public TV journalist arrested at home
The peaceful demonstrations were not to the liking of the authorities in Bor. Several demonstrators were questioned by the security services and Abraham Aleu Anyieth, a journalist for public television, was arrested at his home on the evening of June 26 in Bor. Just like international treaties, our Constitution guarantees this right and freedom to assemble peacefully and express our opinion, as citizens. “, continues Bol Deng Bol.
Wanted, he is currently hiding to escape the security services, while South Sudanese parliamentarians adopted a controversial law on Wednesday, July 3, authorizing arrests without a warrant by the security services.