Some government employees in Warrap State have left their jobs and have resorted to riding motorcycle taxis popularly known as boda-bodas to earn money and provide for their families. 

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, some of the government workers said delayed salary payments, rising commodity prices, and inflation forced them to resort to riding boda-bodas. 

Ngor Deng, a boda-boda rider said he was an officer with the Fire Brigade but has left his job to sustain himself and his family because his salary was not sufficient and always delayed. 

''I was working for the Fire Brigade in the ministry of the interior as a private soldier and I quit that job because I earn little money and by the end of the month the money could not cater to my family. That is why I chose boda boda job because it helps and sustains my family," Deng said.

"The salary I was receiving from the government was 1,800 SSP and deduction for pension took 400 SSP and the net salary was 1,400 SSP. This money comes after 6-8 months but my current job is better than government work,” Deng added. “I get some money for treatment and food for my family. And it depends, in one day I can be counting 6,000 SSP at the end and if you get a person going to Wau, then you earn 15,000 SSP." 

Chol Chol, another boda-boda rider said he was a builder and when the economy contracted, construction work reduced so he resorted to riding a motorcycle for hire. 

''My name is Chol Chol from Twic and I am working here as a boda rider. Before this job I was a builder and when things get tough because nobody is even constructing his or her house and for this reason I use a boda. If you do one job and it is not available, then you decide a second way that is better for you," Chol said.

Another boda-boda rider, Tito Madut Biel, is a teacher who deserted the profession and started selling eggs and saved enough money to buy a motorbike. 

''I left it early and became an egg seller for a very long time and it worked very well to the extent of buying a Senke motorbike and it became my job. My advice to brothers is that little jobs like this and what your hands have done earns a lot for life" he advised.

Madut compared his life now to the time he was working as a teacher and said he is better off at the moment. 

''When I was a teacher I earned 2,000 SSP and now my life has changed because of working as a boda-boda rider and my children are now drinking and eating every day and are in school. Sometimes I earned 15,000 SSP by the end of the day and on bad days I get only 10,000 SSP. This is great because my children are comfortable in school and at home," he said.