AfricaPress-Tanzania: PRIME Minister Kassim Majaliwa has said the government will continue improving the welfare of employees, but it won’t announce in public salary increment to avoid the hike of the cost of living.
He said experience had shown that whenever the government announced salary increment for civil servants, automatically the cost of living goes high as businesspeople hiked the cost of their services, a move that affected all people.
He said, apart from salary increment, there were other ways of improving the welfare of employees such as promotions and a reduction in tax deduction from workers’ salaries.
“This approach is better than adding 20,000/- or 30,000/- to their salary packages. This increases the take home package of the employee. We don’t want to add the cost of living to people who aren’t in public service,” he said in Parliament as he was responding to Konde MP Khatibu Said Haji (ACT-Wazalendo).
Mr Haji had asked about the government’s commitment to implementing the CCM’s election manifesto to improve the welfare of civil servants by increasing their monthly salaries.
“Among the promises in the CCM’s election manifesto was the improvement of employees’ welfare. This has also been said by President John Magufuli himself. When will the government fulfil this pledge?” he asked the Premier.
Responding, Mr Majaliwa said the government was determined to keep improving the welfare of civil servants in a way that won’t affect the living standard of those in the private sector.
“There are people working in farming, fishing and many others. There is no single platform that the government can increase their salaries. That is why the decisions we are taking aim at balancing the situation,” he emphasised.
He maintained that since the welfare of employees was not only salaries, the government continued taking initiatives to improve their living standard.
“The government lowered the worker’s pay as you earn deductions to single digit, and continue taking other initiatives that are beyond salary increment for the greater interest of the working class,” he assured.
He acknowledged the role played by civil servants on national development, asking them to continue working hard as the government was working hard on their affairs.
“The government appreciates their contribution to service delivery and all the achievements that have been recorded are the results of their working spirit,” he said, noting that the government would continue working closely with trade unions to address their challenges,” he said.
