Civil servants are set to start receiving their December salaries from today, Accountant General David Kandoje said yesterday.
In the wake of the delayed November salaries, many civil servants expressed fear that they may get their December salaries late despite it being a month when most organisations pay staff salaries earlier to enable them celebrate the festive season.
But Kandoje, who attributed the delayed processing of November salaries to communication breakdown during the transition from manual to the Integrated Financial Management Information System (Ifmis) after its suspension, said things have been sorted out on time.
He said: “Our goal is to make sure that everyone is paid by Friday [December 20]. But you know banks sometimes have their own internal operational systems which might contribute to further delays.”
However, Kandoje said salaries for the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology will delay because submissions were made late. But he assured staff in the ministry, which comprises the largest staff complement in the civil service,that everything is being done to ensure that they are paid on time.
In November, a number of civil servants from Ministry of Information and Civic Education and others did not receive their salaries until this week.
Kandoje attributed the delay to the transition from Ifmis, to manual and back to Ifmis.
He said: “After the [Capital Hill cashgate] scandal, government suspended Ifmis and reverted to manual financial transaction. Then we reverted back to Ifmis which caused some little problems.”
Billions of kwacha in public funds were looted in the scandal that came to light after the shooting of then Ministry of Finance budget director Paul Mphwiyo on September 13 this year. Mphwiyo has since been transferred to the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC) as director of budget analysis.
The financial leakages were attributed to laxity on the part of controlling officers who released passwords to juniors
Kandoje disclosed that controlling officers had to be given new user rights (password) and that caused some delay.
Civil Service Trade Union president Pontius Kalichero and his secretary Elias Kamphinda Banda could not be reached for comment on claims that government has finished paying civil servants their November salaries.
