Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Government to save money from the small cabinet formed
As the recently
elected fifth phase Tanzania’s President John Magufuli has already announced
his small and well organized cabinet ministers, the government would be saving
Sh11.5bn/- this financial year following the small number of ministers and
their deputies which is 34. The previous fourth phase government had at least
55 ministers including their deputies who have so far been slashed to only 34. The
move has come with a view to cutting costs and making ministers more effective
and responsive to the needs of the population, as part of measures to reduce
cost overheads in the public service. It is said that, with this cross cutting
measures, the government would save around Sh. 1.2 billion which would be used
to pay salaries for ministers and deputies, to buy Land Cruiser V8-VX, vehicle
service and fuel cost and housing allowances. The money could be used to serve
11 ministers and 10 deputy ministers, before the president decided to merge
some of the departments and state-owned enterprises under enlarged ministries.
It is said that, the amount which would be used to buy a brand new Land Cruiser
V8-VX is said to be around $200,000 per vehicle, equivalent to Sh. 432,430,000/-
and its maintenance costs billed to stand at Sh. 0,136,676,000/- for all eleven
pruned ministers and 10 deputy ministers. Housing allowance for one minister is
put at Sh. 800,000/- per month as well as deputy ministers, in which case a total
of Sh. 201,600,000/- would be spent for that purpose annually. Fuel expenses
for a single minister is put at Sh. 1, 823,000/- per month and for all 11
ministers and 10 deputy ministers, their total fuel cost allocation would be Sh.
459, 396,000/- per year. It is also noted that car service costs per minister
is around Sh.1.8 m/- per servicing charge, in which case about Sh. 599, 400,000/-
be required in maintenance charges for the total group of 11 ministers and 10
deputy ministers. Similarly, a minister receives about Sh. 3.8 m/- as basic
salary, where the government would be paying Sh. 957, 600,000/- per year for
the slashed ministers and deputy ministers. However, some commentators have said
that the decision to merge some of the ministries would hamper coordination of
duties which is vital to ensure greater efficiency and service delivery. One of
the critics, former Deputy Minister of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements,
Goodluck ole-Medeye said that that decision will not reduce costs in the
government but add more costs due to the structure of the cabinet and its
performance. Ole-Medeye was quoted by the meduia as saying that ministers
receives Sh. 3.8 m/- in salary, the same amount for members of Parliament,
while the government adds some Sh500,000/- in the minister’s package. Another nominal
cost the minister added is Sh. 800, 000/- as housing allowance which he
believes will not have any impact in the national budget since performance of
the lean cabinet will increase costs. “The structure of government will
increase costs because the decision to merge ministries will lead to
underperformance, for example having a Disaster Commission at the Prime
Minister’s Office and a firefighting force. They will perform the same duties
so it is advisable to merge those departments under one ministry,” he said. Another
commentator, Prof Simon Mbilinyi who served as Finance Minister from 1995 to
1996 said Dr Magufuli’s decision to slash the number of ministers will reduce
costs the government incurs. In previous leadership the country had a huge number
of ministers who do not have much work to do and instead they were selected by
former presidents to protect party interests or recognition of support rendered
during election campaigns. “We have seen ministers receiving a lot of
incentives including large amounts of salary, allowances, use expensive cars,
etc. and do nothing in return. Commenting on the issue, Trade Union Congress of
Tanzania (Tucta) secretary general Nicholas Mgaya said that this decision will
reduce the cost of running the cabinet as a lot of money has been used to buy
ministerial cars, to pay housing allowances and expenses paid to minister’s
assistants such as house maid and drivers.
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