By Isaac Zulu
Green Party leader Peter Sinkamba has urged members of parliament to take a profound reflection before advocating for the increase in their salaries and allowances.
Sinkamba, in an interview, explained that some workers in the country are getting as low as K3,000 per month and wondered why members of parliament, who are entitled to a US$100,000 package for the purchase of a vehicle, monthly salary and allowances, but are still asking for increments of their salaries and allowances.
He said that members of parliament should understand that the country’s wealth is too meagre, hence the need to ensure that there is equity in the distribution of this wealth so that workers do not continue living below the poverty line.
“From the Green Party point of view and looking at the current economic situation, there’s need for increase of remuneration across the board. We have civil servants whose salaries are very, very low. I have seen some payslips for some civil servants who get as low as K3,000 per month. It’s just that you have interest groups who are able to use their standing to advance their individual causes. And those who don’t have such kind of arrangement or muscle are just languishing,” explained Sinkamba. “The MPs have good packages. For example, members of parliament have a package ranging around US$100,000 or so for the purchase of cars. And if you want to convert that into Kwacha, it’s about K1.2 million. And that is just for a car. Then they have these sitting allowances, salaries and stuff like that. And you have a civil servant who is only paid K3,000 per month, and if you total that up, it comes to K36,000 per year. So there is that inequity and some kind of imbalance in the distribution of salaries among government workers.”
Sinkamba reminded parliamentarian’s that they are in the National Assembly to serve the people and not to amass wealth.
“So is that MPs should understand that they are there to serve the people, and not for making money. They are not there to amass wealth. And I think they need to deeply reflect on that,” he said. “They need to understand that the wealth of the nation is too meagre. And therefore there is need to have equity in the way this wealth is shared so that people don’t continue living below the poverty line. The JCTR food basket currently stands at K 8,000 plus, and yet people are being paid peanuts.”
Sinkamba emphasised that there is need to establish and operationalise the Remuneration Commission that would work towards the harmonisation of salaries among workers in the country.
“The biggest challenge we have is that according to the Republican Constitution, we are supposed to have a Remuneration Commission, which is supposed to look at remunerations across the board so that there is some equity in the manner those remunerations are distributed to all the people in the country. They are people who are paid very high salaries within government while in the same government other workers are paid peanuts because there is no one to do the harmonisation of salaries so that we have equity in the way the wealth of the nation is distributed amongst workers,” said Sinkamba. “Like I said the food basket currently stands at K 8,000 plus and yet people are being paid peanuts. They are being disadvantaged economically. All these injustices to do with salaries will not be resolved pretty soon, unless and until we have the Remuneration Commission so that it can guide on equity in the awarding of salary increments.”
