Civil servants smile again

Civil servants have all the reason to smile amid the harsh economic environment as government has given those in Grades C to R a special monthly allowance ranging from K20 000 to K40 000.

In a memo dated September 25 to all controlling officers and heads of departments, Secretary for Human Resources, Management and Development Blessings Chilabade said the allowances will be effected on October 1 2023.

Reads the memo in part: “I am pleased to inform you that as part of ongoing efforts to improve the welfare of civil servants, government has introduced a special allowance for officers in Grades C to R, with effect from 1 October 2023.”

Based on the memo, those in Grades C to I will get K40 000, in grades J to N will receive K30 000 while those in grades O to R will receive K20 000 each month.

The amount is on top of a K20 000 monthly transport allowance government introduced this year in the 2023/24 National Budget. The specific number of civil servants to benefit from the new allowance is not yet known.

However, the special monthly allowance is coming at a time when the government is struggling to finance the budget.

But in an interview yesterday, Civil Servants Trade Union general secretary Madalitso Njolomole backed the government, saying an allocation of about K36 billion was factored in the current budget.

“This is in addition to the K39.1 billion which the government also allocated for transport allowances,” he said.

When presenting the 2023/24 National Budget, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Sosten Gwengwe indicated that the special allowance will be introduced but after due processes had been concluded.

In an interview yesterday, he said the package is meant to cushion civil servants from hard economic times.

Said Gwengwe: “We announced in the budget that we will give an eight percent pay increase, a transport allowance immediately and a special allowance later in the financial year.”