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Nawakwi condemns Zesco management salary increase

Nawakwi condemns Zesco management salary increase
Written by Chibaula Silwamba
Sunday, March 22, 2009 3:59:49 AM

OPPOSITION Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) president Edith Nawakwi has disclosed that Zambia’s power utility company Zesco has increased salaries for its top management despite claims that the corporation was unprofitable.

And Zesco managing director Rhodnie Sisala could neither deny nor confirm the salary increments but accused Nawakwi of being political on the issue. In an interview on Thursday, Nawakwi said the information she had gathered confirmed that Zesco management had increased conditions of service for the top management.

“Zesco top management has increased salaries and other conditions of service effective 1st February, 2009. That is the information that I am picking up from the rank and file of Zesco. These are the issues; can Mr Sisala tell us. Ask them to confirm or deny,” Nawakwi said.

“This is clearly in preparation for a possibility of separation of the corporation because if they were to be separated on the February 1st salary, from what we gather, the top eight or 10 will go with as much as K23 billion as package for all of them.”

She said Zesco had done the so-called job evaluation which had culminated in shoddy increments of salaries and allowances whose many beneficiaries were the top management.

“When the management stands up and say, ‘Zesco is not making profits, we need to invest in the system.’ Why are they investing in themselves?” Nawakwi asked. “We know the salary of the [Republican] President; the salary of the manager of Zesco cannot be a matter of the oracle.”

She observed that the cry that Zesco was not profitable hence the proposal to increase the tariffs was only meant to support the newly implemented wage and salary increment.

“If the company is not profitable how can we then be increasing the salaries? They should have told us that they are buying spares or they have bought so much spares,” Nawakwi said. “When everybody is tightening their belts, when the mines are folding up, when income for Zesco has dwindled, how on earth can they justify that their jobs require to be remunerated more than the others who are working?”

Nawakwi, therefore, said the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) should not even call up a hearing of whether electricity tariffs should be increased or not.

“What ERB should do is that they should publish the salary structures for the senior management in Zesco. This time around if there is a hearing, I will not go to the hearing unless ERB can publish the salary structures for Zesco,” she said. “We don’t want to know on individual basis, I just want to know how of the total turnover per month is spent on salaries and wages. For government we call it the per cent of wages to GDP [Gross Domestic Product]. I think you have heard that a minister cannot spend more than so much. So we also want to know how much of the money we are paying as tariffs goes to wages as compared to investments.”

Nawakwi said Zesco management should justify why the public should pay more in electricity bills.

“The minister is saying the company is unprofitable so I would like to know if the minister or the government has also approved those packages,” Nawakwi said. “How can they approve those packages when in America they are saying ‘these managing directors and corporation chief executives cannot go with as much money as they would have wanted.’ So how they [Zesco management] increase the wages and salaries hardly three months after a new government is in place? Isn’t this a preparation for their possible exit? I mean that hardly three months after President Banda has taken office, it is totally unacceptable that management at Zesco have given themselves increase packages.”

She said she had phoned the ERB to inform the regulator that this time around Zambians would only accept a tariff increase after the salary structure of management had been published and justified.

“We want to have hearing about the salary and other conditions structure of top management of Zesco before we talk about increase of electricity tariffs,” said Nawakwi. “I think that other than that we are going to gang up and we will make sure that there is no increment unless they justify one person in a month getting over K150 million as a salary for corporation that has no money.”

And when contacted for a comment Sisala said he could not react to Nawakwi statement until after her story had been published.

“As you know salary adjustments do take place from time to time. If you look at your papers [newspapers] we were negotiating with the unions from late last year; changes in conditions do take place from time to time. But I am unable to respond to Honourable Nawakwi’s statement because she is being political. I don’t think she is being helpful,” Sisala said. “I haven’t seen what Honourable Nawakwi has said unless I know what she is talking about. I don’t think it will be helpful…because you our colleagues in the media you take one story and if somebody doesn’t know what you are talking about and you add two things together…don’t you think it will be okay for me to cite what Honourbale Nawakwi has said? I can respond to the issues.”

But when this reporter offered to read to him what Nawakwi had said, Sisala refused maintaining that he would only respond when the opposition leader’s statement had been published.

“No! I don’t think so! I need to see what she has said. If there is a story that comes out in tomorrow’s paper, I will read it and then respond to it,” said Sisala.

And ERB executive director Sylvester Hibajane said he could not comment on the proposed tariff increments and Zesco management salaries.

“When a company like Zesco wants to adjust the tariffs, they notify the public through the media like they are doing and they are allowed 30 days to do so. That notice is still running and until 30 days have elapsed, we as ERB are not going to talk about this specific issue. After the 30 days have elapsed, then we shall engage the public,” said Hibajane.

Labels: EDITH NAWAKWI, RHODNIE SISALA, ZESCO

posted by MrK @ 3:58 AM