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Thursday, June 23, 2016

Magufuli explains job freeze

KATARE MBASHIRU
GOLDEN JUBILEE: President John Magufuli addresses the gathering when he graced the climax of celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) in Dar es Salaam. (Photo by State House)
PRESIDENT John Magufuli came out strongly to clarify why the government decided to freeze new employment opportunities in the public service, saying the move is aimed at stamping out phantom workers in the government’s payroll.
Dr Magufuli said the decision to halt employment in the public service was temporary, assuring those aspiring to secure jobs in the next financial year to wait for at least two months so that the government could accomplish its exercise to weed out ghost workers.
The head of state, who was speaking at the climax of celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), gave the clarification, shocking job seekers, who were waiting for jobs up for grabs in the public sector - as members of the trade unions called for suspension of the decision.
“I decided that we should end contradictions because as the government was struggling to clear non-existent workers, the public service continued recruiting new staff,’’ he said, adding:
“You are struggling to eliminate phantom workers in the payroll, while at the same time another person is employing new people, which make it even difficult to realise if those who are currently being employed are also ghost workers.’’
Dr Magufuli said after realising that there were some mistakes committed, it was always good to correct them before moving forward, although, he noted, he was aware that there were some people who were asking themselves why there were no new jobs.
Public Service Management Permanent Secretary (PS) Laurean Ndumbaro issued a circular on June 13 that directed all permanent secretaries, heads of departments, directors, heads of government institutions and chief executive officers of government agencies to freeze new employments as well as stop all salary increments to public servants.
The circular further directed that all permits for sabbatical leaves should be revoked and that transfer of public servants to other offices by awarding them huge salaries that they were receiving in their previous offices should also be halted.
Dr Magufuli asked senior BoT officials and the Treasury to supervise all financial institutions by collecting revenues in all transactions made, including mobile phone money transfers. “Statistics indicate that in March alone, the transactions that were made by telecoms companies stood at 5.5 trillion/- while the amount of tax remitted to state coffers is unknown,’’ he said.
At the ceremony that was held at the BoT Hall, the president launched two books that contains details on finance and economy. The ceremony coincided with a symposium to discuss the presentation on how to get money for various development projects and the issues of soft loans and grants by Professor Justin Lin of Beijing University in China.
Apart from proper collection of government revenue, the government directed BoT and the Treasury to put measures in place that would ensure that the revenue assurance system was working.
Dr Magufuli further asked senior officials to ensure that they supervise tax collection in mining companies as well as ensuring that they seal loop holes for tax evasion.
“There have been instances where a mining company operates in the country for 10 years but still its officials are telling you that they don’t make any profit … if that is the case, they better go back to their countries,’’ he stated.
The president said it was better to stay with the country’s precious gems even for a thousand years, insisting that it was not a sin to leave the pits for the next generation. On pension, the head of state asked officials in the financial sector to ensure that they deal with ghost pension beneficiaries in the public service.
“I understand that there are 2,800 guest workers, who were paid pensions through NMB Bank amounting to 7bn/-, said Dr Magufuli, directing officials to ensure that the money was recovered.

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