More than half of the total revenue collection for February was spent on civil service salaries according to Ambassador Sefue
Chief Secretary Ombeni Sefue
The Ministry of Finance and Planning announced recently that a
total of 573.7 billion/- was used to pay salaries to some 556,418 civil
servants during the just-ended month of February 2016 alone. This is
more than half (57 per cent) of total government revenue collection of
around 1trn/- by February 22.
According to experts, this is contrary to the accepted
international standard of 34 per cent for sub-Saharan African countries -
even though the final collection tally for the month is likely to be
higher.
Still, in an interview with The Guardian, the Chief Secretary and
Head of Civil Service, Ambassador Ombeni Sefue, sought to allay fears
that the public sector wage bill was ballooning and asserted instead
that it was well within manageable levels.
“The ratio of the government’s wage bill compared to revenue
collection may seem lopsided, but this is because revenue collection is
still insufficient,” Sefue said.
“As efforts continue to ramp up revenue collection, the percentage
of revenue allocated for the salaries of civil servants will
subsequently decline,” he added.
The CS also asserted that there were no plans to prune the public
service workforce any further, hinting that the number of government
workers could even increase alongside current moves to expand the
education and health sectors and improve law enforcement.
“Teachers make up half of the government’s total civil service
workforce. The health sector and the police carry large proportions
too,” said Sefue.
Calls have been growing for reforms within the civil service,
including some downsizing to ensure a leaner and more effective
government in line with President John Magufuli’s decision to reduce the
size of the ministerial cabinet.
But Sefue made it clear that radical surgery of the civil service
wage bill – which Trade Union Congress of Tanzania (TUCTA) secretary
general Nicholaus Mgaya described as “bloated” - would not be part of
that agenda.
According to Mgaya, at least 52 percent of the wage bill is spent
on various perks for senior government officials while low-cadre
teachers, police officers and health workers continue to receive “a
minimal monthly wage”.
He said TUCTA has submitted several proposals to the government for
a review of the wage bill taking into account that most Tanzanian civil
servants are poorly paid compared to other East African states.
Dr Donath Olomi, a Dar es Salaam-based economist, argued that the
revenue collected by the government was too meagre compared to actual
government budget requirements, given the geographical size of the
country.
Olomi echoed the view that the biggest challenge for the government
of the day is to reform the civil service to make it more efficient and
productive, while also improving its sources of revenue collection.
“The level of public sector efficiency is still a challenge. Most civil
servants don’t work as much as they earn, and this is where the problem
lies,” he told The Guardian.
Since taking office in November 2015, President John Magufuli has
taken several measures aimed at boosting government revenue collection
and curbing rampant tax evasion as part of a wider war on corruption.
The Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) subsequently announced record
revenue collections of 1.4trn/- in the month of January 2016, up from
the previous government’s monthly average collection of around 900bn/-.
SOURCE:
THE GUARDIAN
