THE government has closed the chapter on the longstanding battle with former employees of the defunct East African Community (EAC), which collapsed in June 1977, insisting that all of them have been paid accordingly.
Dr Mpango said from 2005 to 2010, the government paid 31,519 workers out of 31,831 a total of 115.3bn/-, adding that those who got paid are the ones who were proved to have been employed by the defunct community.
Minister Mpango further said that from 2011 to 2013, the government continued to clear those who were not paid on a case by case basis, in which 269 workers were paid 1.6bn/-.
He said the exercise to receive new payment demands was officially closed on December 31, 2013.
Minister Mpango was responding to a question by Ms Susan Mgonokolima (Special Seats—Chadema), who wanted to know whether the government has settled all outstanding dues to the EAC former workers. However, Faida Mohamed Bakari (Special Seats—CCM), said it wasn’t true that all ex-EAC workers were paid as the minister claimed.
She said some of them died without being paid, giving an example of one Mohammed Kombo Maalim from Pemba who died without being paid. Giving further clearance, Attorney General (AG) George Masaju, said some former workers lodged an appeal for payment of additional terminal benefits but the appeal was dismissed.
Early this year, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal lodged by former employees of EAC for payment of more than 2.1 trillion/- as additional terminal benefits.
The dispute in question could be traced since June 30, 1977 when the countries of Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda disbanded from the members of a body of regional cooperation called East African Community. Prior to that, the three countries under the Community carried on many joint activities.
They included a common air carrier, a harbours corporation, railways, posts and telecommunications; and cargo handling services, just to mention a few. However, in December 1976, the Community began to break up with the collapse of some of its corporations.
From then on, the three countries took their different paths and each established its own entities to take over the places and functions of the many institutions of the defunct Community.
Due to its collapse, the employment relationship between the Community and its staff came to an end.
Even though most of its staff members were taken on board by the newly-established institutions, they were not paid the pensions and other benefits that they were earning as EAC employees.
It took them many years of following up before a decision was finally made to pay them
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