East Darfur’s salaries to be paid, tribal committee takes oath

Siddig Abdel Nabi, the Minister of Education of East Darfur, announced that the Ministry has reached an agreement with the Ministry of Finance to pay all teachers’ salaries and arrears by the end of this year. Meanwhile, the state’s committee that will investigate the tribal clashes has sworn an oath last Sunday.Teachers in the state started a strike against the delayed salaries on Wednesday. Abdel Nabi explained to Radio Dabanga that the problem of the teachers’ arrears have accumulated “for a long time, since the state has been a part of South Darfur”. He pointed out these accumulated arrears are related to differences in salaries, promotions and the President’s grant. The Minister of Education also said that the problem is soon to be resolved, after they reached an agreement with the Ministry of Finance on Thursday. The agreement stipulates the immediate payment of salaries and the payment of arrears before the end of this year. The arrears include the salaries of August, a part of the salaries of July, top-ups of January and February, promotion raises, presidential bonuses of 2012, public transport allowances for secondary school teachers, clothing allowances, and retirement dues, the East Darfur Teachers’ Union branch stated this week, amounting to about SDG 3.3 million ($900,000). In South Darfur state, teachers ended their strike against the non-payment of their entities and salaries after more than four weeks on Tuesday. The Finance Minister of the state said that the educational staff had received all their dues, “thanks to the intervention of Second Vice-President Hassabo Mohamed Abdel Rahman, who contributed to the resolving of the problem”. Tribal committee takes oath The inquiry committee that investigates the clashes between the Ma’aliya and Rizeigat tribes in East Darfur took an oath before the Minister of Justice, Mohamed Bishara Dosa, last Sunday. The committee is chaired by attorney Fathel Rahman Mohamed Ahmed El Jasouli. The most recent clash was the massacre at Um Rakuba, which claimed the lives of hundreds of people from both tribes. Bishara Dosa explained in a press conference that the committee is concerned with the investigation, inquiry, and filing of complaints of facts that constitute a violation of the law. He further demaned protection for the committee through a military force. Finally, he stressed that the authorities will not hesitate to firmly enforce the law on all those involved in committing homicide or looting money. On 16 August, at least 47 tribesmen were killed in fighting that broke out between Ma’aliya and Rizeigat in Um Rakuba after the theft of a camel, a horse, and two donkeys. Government troops were deployed as buffer forces, to no avail, as three days later fierce clashes erupted in the area of Um Rakuba in Abu Karinka locality, reportedly after an attack by Rizeigat on Ma’aliya citizens in the area. Hundreds of people were killed. Map: East Darfur state in Sudan. Related: East Darfur teachers call open-ended strike (3 September 2014) ‘East Darfur tribes agree to a truce’: DRA (29 August 2014)  ‘Hundreds’ die in Ma’aliya, Rizeigat fighting in East Darfur(20 August 2014)