THE Minister of State in the President’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government), Mr Selemani Jafo, has accused heads of civil service departments in various public entities, including local government authorities of sabotaging civil servants’ rights, including promotions.
Such malpractices have fuelled hatred by civil servants towards the government, he said.
He made the remarks here yesterday at a ceremony to award certificates, prizes and trophies to primary school teachers and pupils who performed well in last year’s national standard seven examination.
The historic function was also attended by Mwanza Regional Commissioner John Mongela, clerics, political leaders, development partners, staff and workers of Mwanza City Council.
Mr Jafo (pictured) said the government, under the leadership of President John Magufuli, was committed to ensure that public servants and especially teachers, were promoted to the required standard in accordance with the laws and the structure of civil servants.
But, there were a few staff who, due to inefficiency and ill will, marred ties and ill intentions tend to mar the budgeting process for the teachers’ promotion expectations.
He directed all city and district councils to devise plans of eradicating obstacles in the promotions of civil servants in their respective areas.
The minister added that some teachers had requisite credentials for promotions but due to their superior’s ulterior motives, their status had remained unchanged.
“A civil servant may study hard, acquire a master’s degree and has a clean performance record, but sometimes the people in charge require something in exchange,” he noted.
He further pointed out that some employees applied for leave or promotion benefits but faced stumbling blocks before being granted the rights.
“The behaviour must end; the government will not tolerate the tendency by some superiors to humiliate their junior colleagues,” he added.
He called upon the councils to create a conducive environment that would enable its employees to work harmoniously.
“Every servant must be treated in the same manner and granted merit on the basis of service delivery,” he said.
He showered praise on the residents of Mwanza City for their outstanding performance in implementing the CCM manifesto.
According to him, the region is leading at national level in the construction of health centres and district hospitals in over a short period.
He urged citizens to continue praying for the president to further the vision he had for the country which includes infrastructure development.
Over the past four years, he facilitated the construction of 70 district hospitals, 352 health centres, noting that the government intends to construct 52 other health facilities making a total of 404 of them nationwide.
He said the government had also continued its strategy of constructing road infrastructure, markets and bus terminals for all councils for which 2.1bn/- had been allocated.
“In addition, the government has allocated 1.3 trillion shillings for the implementation of water projects for 27 urban centres anticipated to end water problems,” he said.
In terms of pension benefits, he said the government was fully committed to ensuring that all benefits and claims of pensioners were paid promptly.
He commended the leadership of Mwanza city for deciding to spend part of their revenue on paying leave claims for teachers and asking other councils to emulate the patriotic example.
On his part, Mwanza City Council Education Officer (Primary) Mr Ephraim Majinge said its council had 18 counties with a total of 121 public pre-schools, 80 private schools, 119 primary schools of which 80 are public and 39 private schools.
In terms of infrastructure, he said the city demands 2,295 classrooms and the existing ones are 747 and the deficit is 1,548 rooms.
As for teacher’s houses, he said the city has a demand for 2,325 houses, existing ones are 64 and deficit is 2,261. On his part, Mwanza Regional Commissioner Mr John Mongela saluted teachers for the great work.
