A 2.5 percent salary increment. That is all that civil servants will get this year. In her budget speech in parliament yesterday, Finance Minister Dr Retšelisitsoe Matlanyane also awarded civil servants an automatic notch increase of 2.5 percent.
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The announcement has stirred the hornet’s nest among restless civil servants who have been itching to take to the streets to demand better salaries.
They were demanding a 25 percent salary bump.
The civil servants told thepost yesterday that they will march to Prime Minister Sam Matekane’s offices in Maseru tomorrow to demand better salaries.
“We are in a tight fiscal situation in the medium-term, but despite this, the automatic notch increase will be accommodated which accounts for 2.5 percent plus two percent salary adjustment across the board,” Dr Matlanyane told parliament yesterday.
Dr Matlanyane said in an effort to plug leakages, she will cut jobs within the civil service to reduce the wage bill.
She also promised to freeze recruitment within the civil service except for critical positions.
Dr Matlanyane also promised to restructure ministries and government departments and agencies to eliminate redundant positions.
She said the goal is to slash the wage bill from 18.5 percent of GDP to around 14 percent.
She said she will develop a policy for “voluntary separation and provide negotiated exit packages for selected staff”.
’Makatleho Mphetho, a representative of the Coalition of Lesotho Public Employees (COLEPE), told thepost yesterday that they were unhappy with the budget estimates.
Mphetho, who is also the secretary general of the Lesotho Police Staff Association (LEPOSA) which is part of tomorrow’s planned protest, said they want a 25 percent salary increment and nothing less.
“We are not happy with the budget estimates that were presented today,” Mphetho said.
“The increase does not answer our inflation problems and the hefty daily living costs,” she said.
She said they do not want the paltry increment Dr Matlanyane announced in their bank account.
“She must direct that money elsewhere because we made it clear that we want a certain percentage in our increment,” she said.
“The increase given is not even a quarter of what we expected as public servants in this country.”
Meanwhile, opposition parties have accused Dr Matlanyane of lacking innovation in that “the budget is still the same as the previous mid-term budget”.
“Nothing is new in this current budget, they made a similar presentation during the mid-term budget estimates,” Mathibeli Mokhothu, who is the Leader of opposition, said.
“To a large extent the current estimates were copied and pasted from the previous budget speech,” he said.
“Before presenting this year’s budget, they should have presented a report on what they have done with the previously allocated budget.”
Nkheli Liphoto
