Tanzanian freezes employment for civil servants
Tanzania's President John Magufuli delivers a speech during his swearing in ceremony in Dar es Salaam, on November 5, 2015. PHOTO | DANIEL HAYDUK |
What you need to know:
- The government saved 12.5 million US dollars after it struck 12,246 phantom workers off the public service payroll.
Payments to non-existent employees have been costing the government more than 2 million US dollars a month.
DAR ES SALAAM, Tuesday
Tanzanian authorities said on Tuesday they have frozen employment for civil servants for the next one year.
Laurean Ndumbaro, Permanent Secretary for Public Service Management and Good Governance, said the government will suspend employment in 2016/17 as it intensified its war on ghost workers.
Between March 1 and May 30 this year, the government saved 12.5 million US dollars after it had struck 12,246 phantom workers off the public service payroll.
“This amount was saved because many of those who were on the payroll are retired, dead or untraceable,” said Angellah Kairuki, the Minister for Public Service Management and Good Governance.
She said the government would continue to audit the public payroll and expected to uncover more phantom workers.
The east African nation’s President John Magufuli ordered the audit in March, and directed that the money saved be channelled towards development projects.
Permanent secretaries, heads of public institutions and local authorities were directed to submit reports on ghost workers by June 10.
Payments to non-existent employees have been costing the government more than 2 million US dollars a month, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
