Civil servants Jan pay to delay
Civil servants will have to wait until February to receive their January salaries following an announcement from the Accountant General’s office on Wednesday.
Civil Servants Trade Union (CSTU) has blamed the latest delay on government’s rush to implement expenditure control measures before it was ready.
The Accountant General has issued a circular to controlling officers warning them of the delay in January salaries due to late submission of vouchers known as GP5A.
But in his communication, the Accountant General has not stated the exact date civil servants would be paid; just stating a vague ‘sometime in February’.
The development has irked CSTU, blaming government for sending them on a three-week holiday as part of expenditure control measures without foreseeing the repercussions.
CSTU general secretary Madalitso Njolomole told The Nation yesterday that salaries are normally prepared by the 12 of each month, but due to the three-week leave, civil servants only returned to work on January 6 2014.
“As a result, not all ministries have submitted the GP5A forms [which are used in processing salaries] to the Accountant General. They have been asked to submit by Wednesday January 22 and information we have gathered is that all have submitted. But government systems move slowly and we fear salaries will delay,” he said.
The delay of salaries for civil servants started in November soon after resumption of the Integrated Financial Management Information System (Ifmis) which was shutdown to trace how billions of taxpayers’ money were looted and records deleted.
Since control measures were instituted, ministries have been inadequately funded, a development CSTU says has worsened the delay in preparing salaries.
“Our appeal is that government should follow the cash flow budget as approved by Parliament. Because of the funding cuts and inadequate ORT [Other Recurrent Transactions] budget for the past two to three months, some ministries are unable to buy the GP5A papers,” he said.
The Ministry of Finance has attributed the delay in salaries for the past three months to changes in the government financial system which made it imperative for ministries to submit GP5A forms before the release of funds.
Why is this Njolomole fellow speaking on behalf of the government? When have they made him its spokesman? So far from a trade union official!
This is far beyond incompetency, but cruelity at its best,
Its unfair & in human.. Please govt officials do smthng
Boma limenero. Ndiye ma Civil Servants mukandande zenizeni m’mamawa pa 14 May kudzalivotera
That calls for a strike. This Govt must be sacked off before May.
unfair to workers, think about bills to pay, food, disgusting
Why not tell the truth and say there is no money in government coffers, funds are being used for campaign Cows and the daily travel allowance by JB and her ministers. As long as we do not strike, this woman and her cohorts will take us for fools and treat as with contempt the way they are doing. So ball in our hands as Civil servants. Unfortunately you will hear some fool akuti …..Boma ilo….. MXIIIIIII
This is torture by a government led by a woman which we thot would take us out of the woes of this country. Mxiii! Poor insight! I hav seen this salary torture for quite a long time now, this time I change my mind I wil NEVER NEVER VOTE for this coward whose intellectual is very low. this woman must go. she is wasting govt money daily & she doesn’t feel ashamed at all, she even tel pple shamelessly that she wil not stop kupanga misonkhano. she has money & she is at peace but poor teachers, healthy workers, other civil servants are living on ngongole and katapila daily, and she tells pple kuti amapemphera – real satanic act of torture. guys this govt MUST GO!! now u shamelessly tell pple Jan & Feb salaries wil b delayed. that’s the most stupid & silly announcement I hav ever seen. I hate u govt salary makers.
If Joyce Banda and her government have any conscience at all, and if they have any personal pride, they should just resign stat. This way they can avoid humiliation on May 20th. They should be warned, however, that by resigning, they will not be pre-emptying any court cases over the well documented thefts under their watch. The new chapter in their book, is now “How to torture civil servants”! This government has no shame, and is full of profligacy. Kodi afuna ogwira nchito m’boma azikangochita katapira eti? ( Should civil servants borrow money from loan sharks, and get deeper in debt?) Enough already, time is up for this government; the (PP) house of cards is crumbling. I wonder how many credible people will be left in it, come 20th May?