By Patricia Male
The National Action for Quality Education in Zambia –NAQEZ- in Central Province is appealing to government to either defer or completely write off the recovery of allowances purported to have been erroneously paid to public officials in the Ministry of Education.
NAQEZ Central Province Provincial Secretary Dr. Justine Kabungo says government’s decision to start recovering the purported overpayments effective 1st July, 2022 will morally kill the affected teachers because the economy is not friendly to public servants in general.
According to government, the office of the Auditor General recently conducted an audit of the payroll and discovered irregularities in the payments of various allowances in the Ministry of Education for the financial years 2017 to 2021 amounting K209, 542, 271 31 in total to be recovered.
But Mr. Kabungo notes that while NAQEZ does not support and tolerate illegalities, they are mindful of teachers’ economic status at present and if the recoveries are effected now, the teachers will be more vulnerable and highly demotivated hence the plea to government to consider effecting the recoveries later when the economy improves.
PHOENIX NEWS