By Parach Mach

JUBA, South Sudan

South Sudan president sacked 14 judges, who had been on a strike over low pay and poor working condition for the last two months, an official said Thursday.

The president's decision came after failure of negotiations between the judges and a committee set up by President Kiir to hear the grievances of judges, head of a justice committee said.

“The Wednesday night decree issued by president Salva Kiir dismissed 14 judges, who failed to comply with directives of the chief justice to resume work,” Khalid Abdalla Mohamed, chairman of the Judges and Justices Committee, told Anadolu Agency.

In May, the judges, who were from courts of appeals and high courts, declared a nationwide strike over administrative matters, demanding resignation of chief justice and poor working conditions.

South Sudan civil war that began in December 2013 has claimed tens of thousands of lives and uprooted more than 3.5 million people, many of them to neighboring Uganda, Ethiopia and Sudan.

The three and half year-old civil war has slashed oil revenues and paralyzed agriculture. Civil servants and soldiers go unpaid for months.