Southern nations and peoples region
When it was reported that government employees in Hadia zone had been arrested for protesting that they had not been paid their salaries for 3 months, it was heard that more than 100 of them went into the forest after fleeing the arrest order issued by the zone administration.
In Hadia Zone East Badewancho district, the workers who demanded the payment of unpaid salaries for 3 months at various government offices have been issued arrest warrants.
About two months ago, government employees in Shone and East Badewancho districts staged a protest over non-payment of salaries for more than 3 months. So far, more than 40 of them have been arrested in prisons located 90 kilometers away from the district, while the rest have escaped from prison, Fact Check Zone has heard.
They said that more than 100 workers who were issued arrest warrants by the zonal government for planning to expose the government and have moved to create chaos and violence have now fled to forests and other cities.
An employee of a government office in East Badewancho District, who did not allow their name to be disclosed for their safety, told Fact Checker Zone that more than 50 employees, including him, fled the arrest warrant and hid in the forest and caves, while the rest are scattered in Addis Ababa and other cities.
In general, in the southern region from 2005 The complainants who said that the wage increase, which has been questioned since then, has not yet been resolved, explained that the payment was not made due to the fact that the zone diverted the wages of the workers for the purchase of fertilizers.
He said that an arrest warrant was issued for us just because we asked for our rights, and he told us about the abuse that we have received. It has been 2 months since they were arrested in two prisons in Hossain and they have not been charged yet.
More than 40 of these prisoners have been subjected to various threats and intimidation as to why they have given information to the media in addition to massive human rights violations.
The complainants, who say that their families are currently in trouble, have not been able to pay their house rent and school fees for their children; Not being able to get any additional income from other sources made their problems worse.
The Minister of Finance, Mr. Ahmed Shide, May 9, 2015. According to the House of Representatives, the federal government has announced that it has given loans of more than 7 billion birr to the states that are under pressure to pay salaries.
Based on this, he said that the federal government should intervene if it is not the government employees who asked for the payment to be implemented immediately.
We have heard that the salary payment has been done in some offices for months, but the problem still exists in most of them. Our repeated efforts to get a response from the parties involved in this matter have been unsuccessful.