(LUSAKATIMES) Kasama Council workers demand salaries

COMMENT - It is absurd and almost criminal that council employees are not paid on the dot at the end of every month. More than that, it is an open invitation to corruption. How are council workers supposed to pay the bills if they are not paid? Other than getting paid 'on the job'? Councils need to get serious about their financing, and they should receive 50% of national revenues. As it is, Zambians get double taxed by paying PAYE and local levies as well.

Kasama Council workers demand salaries
Thursday, July 29, 2010, 14:16

Some workers at Kasama Municipal Council in Northern Province have complained of non-payment of their salaries for the past four months now. The workers at the Council have threatened to go on strike if management does not pay them their salaries arrears by this month-end.

Some council employees, who preferred to be anonymous, told ZANIS in Kasama yesterday that they have not received their salaries since March, this year. The workers have since accused Council management of being insensitive to their plight.

They charged that management had deliberately chosen to render a deaf ear to the suffering of workers and their families.

The workers revealed that Council was collecting millions of Kwacha from revenue sources but wondered how the funds were being utilised.

They explained that despite management making promises to pay workers their monies nothing tangible had so far happened.

The workers have since appealed to Government authorities to intervene in the problems that have rocked Kasama Municipal Council.

Efforts to get a comment from Acting Council Town Clerk Victor Kakoma proved futile.

But Kasama Mayor Fidelis Chishoma yesterday also complained that Councillors had not been paid their sitting allowances for meetings that they have had in the last four (4) months.

Mr. Chishoma said the Councillors were entitled to sitting allowances each time they met for council meetings but regretted the non-payment of their dues.

He, however, claimed that Kasama Municipal Council currently did not have adequate funds to pay its workers and Councillors their monies and urged the affected individuals to be patient with the local authority.

[ ZANIS ]