Council employees’ salaries delay

Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development has said January salaries for council staff have delayed due to technicalities associated with a new payroll processing system.

The ministry has since said government, through relevant authorities responsible for payroll and salary processing, is addressing the problems so that the employees get their January dues without further delays.

Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development Principal Secretary Stuart Ligomeka said in a statement on Monday the new system follows the adoption of 1998 National Decentralisation Policy and the passing of the Local Government Act that provide a legal basis for policy implementation through local authorities.

Among other objectives, the policy intends to enhance the efficiency of service delivery by government. The policy and Local Government Act, therefore, give district councils the mandate to manage their resources, including human resources.

Effective December 2016 government, therefore, transferred staff establishments and payroll from the central government to local authorities

In December last year, government commissioned the devolution of payment of salaries for the civil service, a development that is expected to help in the harmonisation of human resource practices such as conditions of service, performance management, human resource planning and development, among others.

The commissioning entailed that all central ministries that have devolved functions and responsibilities to the councils have “essentially” also devolved corresponding human resources and human resource management functions to district councils with district commissioners (DCs) as appropriate controlling officers.  n