South Sudan on Thursday launched the first payment of pensioners after its independence from Sudan in 2011.

The Labour and Public Service Minster, James Hoth Mai told reporters it is the obligation of South Sudan government to reward its civil servants for their services.

“Pension is the right of any retired employee in the country. It is not somebody donating,” he told reporters in the capital, Juba.

He said his ministry was working with all stakeholders in the country to reform the public service by effecting the payment of all pensioners.

According to the official, they would start with pensioners who had worked in Sudan before independence for a period of two months. He added that the payments would start with 235 pensioners.

“We will give two months for the process and if it is going on smoothly, then we shall start pensions for people from South Sudan,” he said.

The payment of pensions, the minister stated, will allow people get promotions and the young people recruited into the country’s public service.

“Since 2011, we only have entry and no exit into the public service, so people are crowded inside. We need to recruit people,” said Mai.

“We have so many young people who are loitering on the streets of our capital with certificates, but without jobs,” he stressed.

According to Mai, implementation of the pension policy will begin with a headcount to know the exact manpower in the country.

He said it was the work of his ministry to clean up the civil service list.

“We want to see whether we have people who are not with us, but are receiving salary. We have people who died 10 years ago and are still in the payroll. Our nominal roll is really crowded,” he added.

Government, the minister said, is establishing a social insurance fund.

“It is our duty to protect our employees. We are working hard to set up a social security fund board to handle this problem,” he said.