South Sudan beats hasty retreat on sacking order

The government of South Sudan on Wednesday moved to control the damage caused by an order requiring expatriates holding key positions in private firms and non-governmental organisations to cede their jobs to its citizens within a month.

Juba issued a statement saying it is only targeting a particular cadre of jobs held by foreigners.

“We are targeting low-level positions existing in the various organisations, financial institutions, hotels etc, whose composition will not reach 40 per cent of the total staffing structure,” Labour minister Ngor Kolong Ngor said in a Press statement.

He added that all United Nations agencies, diplomatic missions, and organisations that have signed bilateral/mutual agreements with the country are exempt from the new order.

The minister further said that the ban on foreigners holding jobs of executive directors refers to positions of “executive secretaries and secretaries”.

The move is seen as a withdrawal from the radical stance in the order Mr Ngor issued on September 12 and which was read as a case of rising economic nationalism.

“All non-governmental organisations, private companies in general, banks, insurance companies, telecommunication companies, petroleum companies, hotels and lodges working in South Sudan are directed to notify all the aliens working with them in all the positions to cease working as from October 15 forthwith,” reads part of the order issued by the minister.

READ: South Sudan labour directive to hurt Kenyan workers

The South Sudan order came on the back of an investigation revealing that foreign firms employed more expatriates than South Sudanese, according to newspapers in that country.

Most of the foreign workers said to dominate the country’s labour market are listed as citizens of Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, and North Sudan.

Mr Ngor said his ministry is not fighting foreign investment but rather ensuring that the laws of South Sudan are adhered to.

The amendment of the radical order offers a reprieve to Kenyan businesses operating in South Sudan, including banks, insurers, manufacturers, and airlines.

Hundreds of Kenyan firms are operating in South Sudan through subsidiaries or cross-border sales networks. They include UAP Holdings, East African Breweries Limited, KCB, CFC Stanbic Bank, Equity Bank, Co-operative Bank and Kenya Airways, among others.

Most of the multinationals have appointed Kenyans as executive directors and middle-level managers besides other positions, which would have made them vulnerable to the original decree.

The original order would have forced the companies to retrench or transfer scores of their expatriate staff in South Sudan by October 16.