Africa-Press – Malawi. The Teachers Union of Malawi (TUM) and the Secondary School Teachers Union (SESTU) have reacted differently to the 8% salary increment for civil servants in the 2023/2024 budget announced by government through Minister of Finance Sosten Gwengwe.
In the budget presented on Thursday which is yet to be scrutinised and passed by parliament, Gwengwe also announced the introduction of transport allowance for civil servants and removal of Pay as You Earn (PAYE) 40% tax bracket.
“Madam Speaker, I am also pleased to notify the house that another special allowance is being considered and will be announced once the due processes have been concluded,” Gwengwe added to disclose another allowance on top of the transport allowance.
Some economic experts have said government has been tactical in cushioning the civil servants after the 25% devaluation of the Kwacha. It seems government is playing its cards well to avoid price increase of goods and services because a salary increase of over 20% results in the increase of prices of goods and services as well.
Much as TUM and the Civil Servants Trade Union (CSTU) demanded 35% increase in salaries, the removal of PAYE 40% tax bracket, the introduction of the transport allowance and the 8% hike, all add up to slightly over 30% of the salaries, say the experts
Secretary General for Teachers Union of Malawi, Charles Kumchenga, told Maravi Post that what government has done was still a relief to civil servants.
“We have learnt that government has increased civil servants’ salaries with 8%. The annual Leave Grant (LG) has also been increased with 25%. There is also an allocation of transport allowance and another allowance on top of the transport allowance. If we make calculations, you will find out that all this is amounting to 30 plus percent which is not far from what we asked.
“We are a bit happy with this because what we wanted is that civil servants should at least be getting something to cushion their daily living. It doesn’t matter what name is given to the money but so long as it cushions a civil servant, the better,” explained Kumchenga.
But the Secondary School Teachers Union (SESTU) says it is very disappointed with the 8% increase.General Secretary for SESTU, Druwen Frank Moyo, told Maravi Post that government has shown lack of seriousness on the welfare of civil servants.
“We are very disappointed. We were not expecting this. Government here has shown lack of seriousness. 8% is far too low. The depreciation of the Kwacha has brought suffering and misery to teachers. We were expecting something far much better.
“As for the introduction of the transport allowance, we still have to learn more on how it will be implemented. We feel government should have also introduced housing allowance because many teachers do not live in institutional houses. As regards relief on the tax, we feel it is targeting few people. We feel it is not going to bring relief to all civil servants,” Moyo said. TUM cancelled a nationwide strike for teachers in the country in January awaiting a promise by government in salary increase in the 2023/2024 budget.
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