Samia: Judge me holistically on workers welfare

Dar es Salaam. President Samia Suluhu Hassan said yesterday that people should look at a holistic approach of what her administration has done to improve the welfare of public servants.

Speaking during an interview with Azam Media chief executive officer, Mr Tido Mhando, President Hassan said employees’ welfare goes beyond just salary increase.

“Last year was when we took a lot of effort to improve the welfare of public servants. During Workers’ Day (May 1) last year, we did not mention anything about salary increases because if we were to do that, we would have stimulated a rise in prices of almost everything,” she said.

Also read:Salaries will be raised, Samia assures workers

The President’s statement comes at a time when Tanzanians are debating the need for her to openly state how much in salary increase should civil servants be expecting come the next financial year.

This is because when she addressed the nation during this year’s Workers’ Day on Sunday, President Hassan only assured the public servants that their salaries would be increased. She, however, fell shot of revealing the expected percentage rise.

President Hassan said by reducing the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) threshold by one percent last year, workers’ take home pay was improved. Besides, President Hassan said the government also promoted several civil servants in line with the requirements. “This also suggests that their salaries were improved and there are those who received double promotions in accordance with the number of years that they stayed without being promoted,” she said.

Similarly, the government scraped the five percent in repayments to the Higher Education Students’ Loans Board in an effort to improve the take-home pay for civil servants last year. “In short, we significantly increased salaries of civil servants last year, but because we did not specifically announce the salary increase, it is difficult to see and people are unable to appreciate,” she said reiterating that much as similar initiatives would be taken again this year, the government will also consider increasing salaries after completing calculations.

Meanwhile, President Hassan said yesterday that all the projects launched and signed during the fifth phase administration of her predecessor, John Magufuli, were still meaningful to Tanzania’s fourth industrial revolution drive.

Some of the projects that the country embarked on during the administration of the late Magufuli included construction of the Standard Gauge Railway line (SGR), expansion of all ports, construction of the 2,115 Megawatts Julius Nyerere Hydropower Dam and reviving of Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) among others.

On calls for a new constitution, President Hassan said much as she has repeatedly said it was not the right time to put much emphasis on the topic as she has formed a team of experts, whose members are picked from political parties, academia and other stakeholders, which was currently collecting public views on the best way to run the country in a democratic manner.

She said in its preliminary findings, the task force has recommended short, medium and long-term issues, so all matters including the new constitution are coordinated by political parties through the task force.

“In my case, do not judge me by the previous commissions. It depends on what they bring forth…..We will sit with them and see what to do,” she said