New CV demands by Government stirs confusion, debate

  

By Jacob Mosenda

More by this Author

Dar es Salaam. The government’s decision to compel civil servants to update their curricula vitae (CVs) - and also include particulars of their religion and tribe - is

already causing uneasiness among employees who question the rationale for the new requirements.
However, the government says those opposing the move were simply ill-informed - and could likely have preconceived notions.
The Permanent Secretary of the ministry of Finance and Planning, Mr Emmanuel Tutuba, said the details required in the new CV format are normal of any employee.
He noted that the complaints may be the result of misinterpretation, or are due to someone narrow-minded enough to think that there is only one CV format.
Noting that the details required would render a person to be well known to the authorities, Tutuba  stressed that it is a normal vetting process which provides particular details of a person for use when needed.
“We have been proposing the names of some people at various institutions… and then you are asked about the background of the person - details which are missing in the original CV,” he said.
“People doing the vetting want to know your origin; your commitment;  if you really are a Tanzanian; how you interact with different people... This is normal,” he explained.
However, the issue has not gone down well with some civil servants, with a number of members of the University of Dar es Salaam Academic Staff Assembly (Udasa) and University of Dodoma staff (Udom) expressing dismay at some of the requirements in the proposed CV format.
“How is it that today in Tanzania in the public service I am asked what my religion, my tribe is? How does all this contribute to the improvement of public service in the country?” queried one of the employees from Udom.  He said the manner in which information about new development was delivered raised concerns and doubts for the future of some public servants.
“How do I know what will happen after mentioning my religion and ethnic group? I know this is not a country of religion and ethnicity,” noted a lecturer from Udom.
According to the Udasa chairman, Dr Avit Thadei Mushi, the issue was not understood because it went directly to the implementation stage, although they have been constantly linked to various verifications at the university previously.
“We’ve been doing regular verifications in recent years, so we didn’t have to think about it, but the recipes in the current format brought in confusion… I personally started receiving calls from a lot of people lamenting this,” he said.
According to him, the staff were shocked by the development at a time when their particulars were already with the Treasury Registrar.
“Basically, we do not know the reason behind this. We have not been told what the reason is despite being asked to fill in, print, scan and then give it to our department heads so that they can return them to the registrar. We do not know exactly what the goal is yet,” he said. The head of communications and relations at the Treasury Registrar’s Office, Mr Eric Mkuki, told The Citizen that the registrar, like other employees, had fulfilled his duty as a government entity.
He noted that the exercise had not only started with the current civil servants, but also with senior executives - and that this was just the second phase.
“Civil servants shouldn’t see this as a strange thing, but as part of the government wanting to get the right (updated) information from its employees on time,” he said.
The government, as an employer, according to Mr Mkuki, has the right to have the information of its employees and that the Treasury Registrar’s Office was involved because it is the custodian of public institutions and organizations.
“There is nothing wrong with this exercise. I, therefore, urge those responsible for filling in the information to do so because it is a normal requirement,” said Mr Mkuki.