Councillors demand higher pay
Councillors demand higher payBy Mutuna Chanda
Sunday October 07, 2007 [04:00]
Councillors will continue to appear destitute if the government does not pay them adequately, Kitwe mayor Divo Katete has said. But former Kitwe mayor Luxon Kazabu said it would be difficult to justify paying councillors salaries and gratuities unless civic leadership is redefined.
Commenting on the increment of mayors’ and councillors’ sitting allowances announced by local government minister Sylvia Masebo last Wednesday, Katete said due to the amount of work that councillors were involved in, it was difficult for them to prioritise their private lives.
He said gratuities for councillors were inevitable and that salaries could also be considered.
“Look at some councillors they are not in full-time employment but when you look at them, they do a lot of work and they are closest to the people on the ground. Much as we appreciate the increment we only hope there are further consultations on improving conditions of councillors country wide,” Katete said. “I know it is a sacrificial job but government is supposed to honour them.”
He said it was difficult to attract people of quality into civic leadership because they knew that there was nothing in it for them.
“Some people weigh that why should they give up good jobs when there is nothing in being a councillor. But if they were better paid, they would consider it. When you look at councillors, we don’t have someone who is a doctor or someone who holds a degree or masters” Katete said. “Like now we are talking about decentralisation… for us to attract quality people who understand decentralisation it is important for government to improve the conditions of councillors.”
And Patriotic Front (PF) Mulungushi ward 18 councillor in Mandevu Constituency in Lusaka Daniel Chisenga described the increments in sitting allowances as low considering the number of sittings that councillors held.
“Why should there be such disparity between councillors and members of parliament? The members of parliament are entitled to hefty allowances other than the gratuity they receive at the end of their terms,” Chisenga stated. “The same should also be put into consideration for councillors.”
He stated that salaries and gratuities would in the end help reduce levels of corruption among certain councillors who were found to be involved in illegal dealings.
But Kazabu said money does not come into the picture in civic leadership.
“The community elects you into civic leadership on the basis of your contribution and achievements to the area that you live in.
By nature civic responsibility does not entail salary and gratuity which is more of the reason why in the past the only ones who would be eligible to stand as ward councillor would be people who owned property such as a house in a particular locality because they would be instrumental in ensuring that necessary facilities in the community which added value to the property were there,” Kazabu said. “But now it’s open to anyone.
As long as we have people who regard civic leadership as a job, they will continue asking for a salary.”
Masebo last Wednesday announced increments to sitting allowances of mayors and councillors across the country.
Mayors’ allowances in cities were increased from K120,000 to K200,000 while that of those in municipalities rose from K90,000 to K180,000.
Masebo further said councillors in cities would be getting K150,000, in municipalities K120,000 and those in districts K100,000 per sitting from previous amounts of between K45,000 and K60,000.
Zambia has a total of 1, 422 wards each represented by a councillor.
Labels: COUNCILS, SYLVIA MASEBO
posted by MrK @ 6:52 AM
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