Over 3,000 workers put on govt payroll

Over three thousand public service workers, who have for some time gone without pay, have finally been introduced on the payroll.

Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba said 3, 100 employees were introduced on the payroll during the month ending 31 October, 2014 and that they have since started receiving their salaries.

Mr Yamba disclosed that the said employees were recruited on the basis of the treasury and recruitment authority obtained in 2013.

The Secretary to the Treasury further revealed in a statement released to ZANIS in Lusaka today that approximately 3, 000 newly promoted employees have also had their salaries adjusted upwards.

“To the best of its ability, the Treasury will continue to ensure that all duly employed and promoted public service workers are installed on the payroll and their salaries adjusted as promptly as possible,” assured Mr. Yamba.

He noted that the new introductions on the payroll have increased the public service wage bill from K824.3 million in September, 2014 to over K1 billion in October, 2014.

Meanwhile, Mr Yamba has assured delegates who attended the just ended Conference on High-Level-Dialogue on Job-Creation that government has taken various steps to address the challenges of high unemployment and poverty, particularly among the rural population of the country in its quest to better the living conditions of the citizenry.

He noted that in the revised sixth national development plan, government has prioritised employment creation as key to poverty reduction.

“Employment creation has a direct bearing on poverty levels as it provides income to the people and enables them to access the basic needs of life.

“To this effect, efforts have been made to promote pro-poor growth with focus on job creation, skills training, self-employment opportunities creation and improving the quality of jobs,” said Yamba.

The Secretary to the Treasury was speaking during the closing session of the High-Level-Dialogue on Job-Creation & Inclusive Growth.

“The recommendations and action points from this job-creation of conference will be taken seriously and a monitoring framework will be developed to ensure that the issues raised are addressed by the concerned institutions in a timely manner,” he said.

Mr Yamba said government has put in place a number of policies and strategies aimed at addressing the challenges of high unemployment across the various sectors.

He cited the Employment & Labour Market, the Micro Small Medium Enterprise Development, National Youth, TEVET, and Gender Policy among several Government strategies and policies that are aimed at addressing unemployment and facilitate job creation in the country.

He said others are the Agricultural, Job Creation and Industrialisation Strategy, and the Decentralization Policy.

Mr Yamba called for measures and delivery vehicles that will transform public policy aspirations into tangible actions so that the livelihoods of the people of Zambia are transformed from contentment with bare means of survival to statuses that are consistent with Zambia’s middle-income classification.