Wage bill hits K1bn

THE public service wage bill has increased from K824.3million in September to over K1 billion in October this year following the inclusion of over 3,000 public service workers who endured payless moments, Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba has said.
According to a statement released by Ministry of Finance public relations officer Chileshe Kandeta yesterday, Mr Yamba said 3,100 employees were introduced on the payroll last monthend and they have since started receiving their salaries.
He said the employees were recruited last year on the basis of the treasury and recruitment authority.
Mr Yamba said 2, 980 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,” he said.
And Mr Yamba assured delegates who were attending the just ended Conference on High-Level-Dialogue on Job-Creation that in its quest to better the living conditions of the citizenry, the Government had taken various steps to address the challenges of high unemployment and poverty, particularly among the people in the rural areas.
He noted that in the revised Sixth National Development Plan, the Government has prioritised employment creation as a 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,” Mr Yamba said.
He said Government has put in place a number of policies and strategies to address high unemployment.
Mr Yamba called for measures that will transform public policy aspirations into tangible actions so that the livelihoods of Zambias are transformed.
“The recommendations and action points from this job-creation 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.

Zambia Daily Mail