The Zanzibar President Ali Mohamed Shein 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.
Zanzibar President Ali Mohamed Shein
“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.”
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