Tactically fire ministers and MPs demanding salary hikes, days of parasites are over!
By Michael B Munyimba
I was not a happy man when I heard of the death of president John Pombe Magufuli of Tanzania on 17 March last year, and the touching tributes from his counterparts across Africa and beyond only worsened the flow of my tears.
One such tribute was from Dr Lazarous Chakwera, President of Mwalawi. What a touching eulogy he gave of this true son of the continent who departed so early when the continent needed him the most.
Magufuli governed Tanzania for only six years, but the economic reforms he brought to the country were so profound; he soon became the subject of everyone’s conversation on the continent.
Magufuli had zero tolerance to corruption, to complacency or laziness in the civil service. Ministers, or the so-called constitutional office holders had to work before getting salary alert messages on their phones from their banks. Those who showed any parasitic signs were kicked out of the system to pave way for only genuine people who had the heart for developing Tanzania and the zeal of uplifting the living standard of the poor. And he believed in equity amongst all people, such that even when his own wife got ill, he booked her into a public, government hospital, the like of UTH; in a public ward where she mingled with the poor with ordinary citizens. It baffled the world. He never flew her to China, USA or South Africa, she was treated right there, together with ordinary people because to John Pombe Magufuli, there were no sacrificial lambs or “animals that were more equal than others”, as George Orwell put it in his book, Animal Farm.
I could probably compare John Pombe Magufuli to late Levy Mwanawasa who also treated everyone equal. Dr Mwanawasa’s own mother died on a public transport bus which had an accident and caught fire along our roads here. Just imagine, the president’s mother losing her life on a public bus, alone there, no escort, without any friend or nephew to accompany her! Mwanawasa could have easily sent a luxury car to pick her from her village, but nay, he didn’t do that. To him, she was just another ordinary citizen. Even president Magufuli himself died in a public hospital right there in Tanzania. During his tenure, John Pombe made it clear to his ministers and all senior government officials that government was not a cash-cow to syphon money, or a get rich quick, free macro-finance bank for greedy parasites to benefit from. He told them that if they thought being ministers meant they could milk government coffers and suppress the poor even further, they were in for a shock, because they were to be sacked faster than they found themselves in those offices. The moment he came into power, Pombe ordered the sale of all big luxury cars for ministers and senior officers at a public auction and replaced them with small Toyota Corollas. He didn’t see the need for those lads to be going around in those big, expensive, luxury vehicles using government fuel, when Tanzania lacked good roads and other infrastructures, when most children went to bed hungry because their parents couldn’t afford even two meals a day. He would assemble his ministers now and again, give them slashers and bicycles, order them to go around slashing grass and picking papers in shanty compounds and around town instead of just sitting in offices with big bellies drinking coffee and playing solitaire games on government computers while waiting for hefty salaries, come month-end. He told them they were free to resign if they thought too important for such errands. But no one resigned, they stayed because he made them understand that their main concern should be service delivery to the public, instead of wallowing in delusions of luxury, craving for big salaries and cars and exorbitant, flamboyant lifestyles at the expense of taxpayers.
I was very disappointed and heartbroken when I learnt that ministers and MPs here in Zambia had submitted a proposal to the President requesting for salary hikes. Now, a Zambian minister earns roughly K50,000 basic salary. Every time they sit in parliament, they get K1,500, they are given fuel allowance for subsidised cars they get on loans, but it seems all that is not enough. They want 20 per cent salary hikes and their allowances to be doubled to K3,000 per sitting in parliament. But the President is said to have looked them in the eyes and told them that it was not going to happen as they earned enough to enable them decent lives.
Zambians are suffering out there, with most living below K1,000 a month, below the poverty datum line, and we now have a bunch of selfish, greedy lads who want to be pocketing K100,000 per month for chatting with girlfriends on WhatsApp and Facebook the whole day in their offices and dozing in parliament. When they open their mouths in parliament, only junk spews out! Nothing sensible to represent their constituencies that sent them there.
I like what the President said at some gathering. He said these people want to drive GXs, that do you know that one GX can build 10 toilets in your Constituency? They want US $120,000 as car allowance, what sort of madness is that? We are trying to recover from the damage the “clique of thieves” caused, now they too want to walk the same route?
Mr President Sir, kindly sack whoever is ever going to bring up that issue again. Simply find some small excuse, such as a stapler missing in the ministry and get them packing. We should be talking about reducing their salaries to half here, not increasing them. What do they eat, food prepared by angels or what? What special work do they do? Do they dig oil? No. Do they dig sanitation canals in compounds? No. Do they mend tyres on roadsides? No! Do they dig toilets for people in compounds? No! So, what exactly should warrant all that money? Most of them are just a liability to the nation and need to be sacked. Ministers’ salaries should just be K10,000 or less, there are technocrats below them such as permanent secretaries who work but don’t complain. Someone gave you a job just 12 months ago. Already you are having some funny ideas of how to enrich yourselves, how much were you earning before you were ministers?
Now we are told they are planning a silent protest in parliament so that no debate goes on as a way of forcing their demands down the throats of their masters! Zoona uluse lwalile inkwale. These lads wanted jobs; they are given wonderful jobs, look at their behaviour now! Give others who really need jobs if you are tired. We have a lot of determined, intelligent men out there willing to work for far less. So, get real, or fade out!
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