Government to Conduct Civil Servants Headcount in Reform Drive
By Kidega Livingstone
The Government of South Sudan, through the Ministry of Finance and Planning, has announced plans to conduct a nationwide headcount of civil servants as part of ongoing public financial management reforms.
The exercise aims to clean up the government payroll, eliminate irregularities, and ensure that salaries are paid to legitimate employees.
Speaking to journalists during the signing of a $5 million agreement to support reforms in public financial management on Friday, the Undersecretary for Planning at the Ministry of Finance, Benjamin Ayali, said the government currently lacks accurate data on the number of civil servants on its payroll.
He noted that the failure to pay salaries regularly is not only due to lack of funds, but also because of a bloated and unverified payroll system.
“We don’t know how many people we are paying,” Ayali said, adding that some individuals are drawing salaries from multiple government institutions at the same time.
According to Ayali, the planned headcount will identify so-called “ghost workers” and eliminate cases where one person is paid in several ministries. This, he said, will help reduce wage bill pressure and restore order in public service management.
“If one person is being paid in several ministries, they will only remain in one institution after the verification,” he explained.
The Undersecretary emphasized that the savings generated from the exercise will be redirected to support key government reforms and improve service delivery.
He said funds recovered from the payroll cleanup will be invested in critical sectors such as education and healthcare, including the construction of schools and hospitals.
Ayali further described the reform as a necessary step toward building a transparent and accountable financial system, noting that a “clean payroll” would allow the government to use its limited resources more efficiently.
The headcount initiative forms part of a broader reform programme supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which seeks to strengthen public financial management and enhance accountability in government institutions.
Analysts say addressing payroll irregularities—often linked to corruption and weak oversight—has long been a major challenge in South Sudan, contributing to salary delays and inefficiencies in public service delivery.
The government hopes the planned headcount will restore confidence in the public payroll system and ensure that civil servants receive their salaries on time while improving overall fiscal discipline.
