Adhere to ethics, work hard, Shein emphasises

DAILY NEWS Reporter

ZANZIBAR President, Dr Ali Mohamed Shein (centre), Second Vice-President, Amb Seif Ali Iddi (second left) and other officials raise their hands in solidarity to mark International Labour Day at the celebrations held at Wete in Pemba North Region, yesterday. (Photo by State House)

PRESIDENT Ali Mohamed Shein yesterday graced the World Workers Day (May Day) in Pemba with a call on civil servants to observe ethics as well as work hard, as the government continued with a clean-up exercise that included identifying ghost workers and abolishing uncalled-for salary disparity in public offices.

In his speech in Wete town, Pemba North, Dr Shein told the audience that braved a downpour that he was happy with the pace of social and economic development in the islands attributed to hard work and increasing financial discipline in public expenditure.

“We have been doing all we can to ensure that the welfare of civil servants and employees in the private sector improves gradually.

Salary increases and reforms in the public sector aims at improving working environment for all workers,” the President said.

While pressing the private sector to adopt the basic salary of 300,000/= per month to match the government’s, ongoing salary review among executives in the government seeks to abolish disparity. We cannot allow a cleaner in institution X to be paid 900,000/= while someone doing the same job elsewhere is paid 300,000/=,” he said.

Dr Shein said the ongoing reforms also included flushing out ghost workers, through verification of all civil servants. “I already have the report for this year. We must purge cheats and underperformers from the public service.

I have directed that some of them be off-loaded and will not spare any civil servant in any position, who fails to perform,” he remarked emphatically.

Mr Khamis Mwinyi Mohamed, Executive Secretary of the ‘Zanzibar Trade Union Congress (ZATUC), raised some concerns of the workers to the President, including resistance by some private sector employers to adjust their employees’ salaries in accordance with government’s directives.

Mr Mohamed also asked the government for continued social welfare enhancement, to which Dr Shein responded: “I am advising all workers to pay attention to the 2018/2019 budget speech.

It will contain most of the answers for your requests and if you are not satisfied come and see me at the State House.”