The community leaders in Aweil North County, Northern Bahr el Ghazal State, have agreed to provide food assistance to soldiers at the border with Sudan.
This comes after the county commissioner recently visited the soldiers and found out that their situation is bad, and they need emergency support.
"When I reached there, I found out that the situation they are in is so bad,” Kiir Chan Wol told Akol Yam FM.
He shared the idea with the payam administrators, paramount chiefs, and executive chiefs, who have agreed to provide support.
“So, I sat down with all the chiefs across the county to give their hands to them,” Kiir said.
In Aweil North County, there are about 325 traditional chiefs. One of the chiefs, Athian Yuot, confirmed the ongoing contribution to support the soldiers.
Yuot confirmed they have agreed to support the soldiers because soldiers at the border protect people and their properties against foreign aggression.
“We are ready to offer some food assistance to our soldiers; as we have seen, our country is still not stable enough to feed its soldiers,” he explained.
“Therefore, we as chiefs have agreed with our county authority as good ideas for each chief to give support.”
It is not clear what each chief and payam administrator will contribute.
South Sudan has been faced with a series of crises, including political violence, economic meltdown, which have affected civil servants.
A private receives about $13, but they rarely receive their pay on time. According to some soldiers, they have not received the little pay since October 2023.
This affects the soldiers and their families. Last week, an SSPDF soldier reportedly killed himself due to economic hardships in Gogrial West County, Warrap State.
According to the police, Private Bol Wieu Bol, 29, had just taken a leave of absence to see his wife and children.
His family's harsh living conditions overwhelmed the father of four children upon his return home to Keet village, Alek West Payam.