By Manyuon Mayen Manyuon, Sawa Sawa Network
Juba, (November 3, 2022) – In what appears to be a fresh attack on the educational sector in Lakes State, the Wulu County is holding at least six teachers for allegedly appealing for removal of the county education director Peter Abol and his deputy Jacob Mangor Juma, local authorities have confirmed.
However, reports on the ground indicate that the arrested instructors were either seven or eleven in total.
According to the sources, some of the instructors were arrested on Tuesday and others on Wednesday for implicating the education director and his deputy over pay complaints in a petition.
Speaking to Sawa Sawa Network over the matter on Thursday, Juma Daffala, the county commissioner, confirmed the arrests but claimed the county does not consider the arrested as teachers but “military officers”.
“They are not teachers. They are military officers. So, we arrested them because they wrote a letter that they don’t want the director of education and his deputy even when they are not in our education system,” Daffala claimed.
When asked to justify how the military officers hijacked the county education sector to an extent of petitioning the county, the commissioner said:
“We have been seeing them wearing uniforms of police and wildlife. This is how we know that they are members of the organized forces. So, I have directed the police to investigate them and bring the report to me.”
In August 2022, Rumbek Center County court dismissed the state education ministry’s case against the five teachers – the alleged ringleaders of the pay strike – who were detained two months earlier.
The teachers had protested what they called “poor salary structure” on June 18, which was enforced on them by the state education ministry contrary to the new salary scale.
Asked whether the latest occurrence was not a repetition of the previous battle against the teachers in the state, the commissioner said they were not against the teachers.
“Education is not for one person. If we get a person interfering with the education, then we can arrest that person. Otherwise, we arrested those whom we thought were causing complications,” he added.
A Rumbek-based teacher, who preferred anonymity over fear of reprisal, told this outlet that the entire county leadership was lying.
“This is just a lie. The commissioner is trying to play with our minds. What we are telling you is a reality. Those arrested are my colleagues and they are all inspectors under the county education office,” he explained.
The commenter comes from the same county where the arrests took place. According to him, the commissioner was just covering up the truths.
Hon. Moses Taban Ater, a lawmaker at the Lakes State Legislative Assembly, who represents Wulu County’s Constituency 9, condemned the detention of the teachers.
“As a matter of fact, I really condemned the act in the strongest terms possible. The teachers were complaining about their salaries, for not being paid and it is even less. Why are they arresting them over their rights?” Hon Taban asked.
Twenty teachers wrote the petition. The county leadership is allegedly in coordination with its security apparatuses to arrest the remaining petitioners.
The area MP challenged the commissioner to form a committee and act on their teachers’ grievances instead of working against them.
Reliable sources maintained that the education director, the commissioner, and the police were working jointly to silence the teachers who brought the issues to light.
Via The Sawa Sawa Network