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Tucta sees ``hidden`` sources of revenue
By Gadiosa Lamtey
8th May 2010
Tucta Acting Secretary General Nicholas Mgaya.
The Trade Union Congress of Tanzania (Tucta) has identified areas where it says the government could raise extra revenue and have the capacity to pay workers the minimum wage of 315,000/- they demand.
Tucta Acting Secretary General Nicholas Mgaya told journalists in Dar es Salaam yesterday, ahead of a scheduled resumption of negotiations between the trade union's apex body and the government, that it was possible to pay the workers the proposed minimum wage of 315,000/- "by plugging loopholes commonly resulting in unnecessary loss of revenue".
Mgaya made the remarks in the wake of President Jakaya Kikwete's monthly address to the nation on Monday through Dar es Salaam elders.
The president declared that the government was not in a position to pay the 315,000/- proposed by trade unions because, if it did, it would be denying the majority of Tanzanians a range of basic needs.
Mgaya quoted the Controller and Auditor General as having reported that the government lost over 50bn/- during the year ending June 2009 through a string of loopholes, calling that a probable source of funding for the proposed rise in workers' wages.
He argued that the government could also safely prune the allowances going into the pockets of top government officials and transform the amount "saved" into workers' salaries.
He cited the 2009/10 financial year budget in which he said the government set aside 59 per cent of the entire salary budget as allowances for top government officials.
"The government has every reason to treat the problem of workers' meagre salaries with priority instead of considering the allowances paid to a few top government workers more favourably," he observed.
The Tucta official advised the government to minimise tax exemptions also as part of a strategy to help it end up with more revenue".
He said that the 2007/08 budget alone saw tax exemptions reach 30 per cent of the total revenue collections or 3.5 per cent of the GDP.
He also called on the government to take deliberate measures to control tax evasions, saying the notorious practice had in the recent past denied the country an annual 52bn/- on average.
The government could also reduce the income gap between the highest paid wage earners and the lowest paid ones so that both could benefit from the national cake equitably, he added.
"All these measures are possible if well supervised and implemented. We know that our government is capable of paying the minimum wage demanded by the workers without any other services being adversely affected," Mgaya argued further.
He said Tucta leaders had no hidden political or other agenda "other than protecting and championing the rights of workers through their unions as guided by their constitution".
"Although trade union members have a right to be affiliated to political parties, they do not associate with any particular party when it comes to defending their rights," he noted.
President Kikwete said in his Monday address that the minimum wage demanded by Tucta was unreasonably high, considering the country's meagre sources of revenue, and there was no way the government could meet the demand even in the long term.
"Even if workers were to strike for eight years non-stop, their demands for the new minimum wage proposed would not be granted because the government revenue is well below what they are demanding," he elaborated.
The president said if the government granted the trade unions' demands, workers alone would eat up a hefty 6.8trn/- from its kitty.
He added that the government currently has a 350,000-strong workforce and paying them the 6.8trn/- would mean having to seek a loan amounting to 1.1trn/-.
He said the government could not grant the workers' wage rise demands "because there are numerous other unsolved problems facing the people, among them those relating to access to electricity, water, education, health and transport and communication".
"I just cannot be dragged into hiking salaries as demanded by workers amid suffering by the people simply because I want workers to vote for me (come the October General Election)... The agreement between the government and the workers (Tucta) should not adversely affect the lives of other people," stated President Kikwete.
Tucta shelved its plans for a prolonged countrywide workers' strike that was to have taken place beginning pending negotiations scheduled to resume today.
The workers are demanding, among other things, a hike in wages, a reduction in income tax and improved retirement benefits.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
By Gadiosa Lamtey
8th May 2010
Tucta Acting Secretary General Nicholas Mgaya.
The Trade Union Congress of Tanzania (Tucta) has identified areas where it says the government could raise extra revenue and have the capacity to pay workers the minimum wage of 315,000/- they demand.
Tucta Acting Secretary General Nicholas Mgaya told journalists in Dar es Salaam yesterday, ahead of a scheduled resumption of negotiations between the trade union's apex body and the government, that it was possible to pay the workers the proposed minimum wage of 315,000/- "by plugging loopholes commonly resulting in unnecessary loss of revenue".
Mgaya made the remarks in the wake of President Jakaya Kikwete's monthly address to the nation on Monday through Dar es Salaam elders.
The president declared that the government was not in a position to pay the 315,000/- proposed by trade unions because, if it did, it would be denying the majority of Tanzanians a range of basic needs.
Mgaya quoted the Controller and Auditor General as having reported that the government lost over 50bn/- during the year ending June 2009 through a string of loopholes, calling that a probable source of funding for the proposed rise in workers' wages.
He argued that the government could also safely prune the allowances going into the pockets of top government officials and transform the amount "saved" into workers' salaries.
He cited the 2009/10 financial year budget in which he said the government set aside 59 per cent of the entire salary budget as allowances for top government officials.
"The government has every reason to treat the problem of workers' meagre salaries with priority instead of considering the allowances paid to a few top government workers more favourably," he observed.
The Tucta official advised the government to minimise tax exemptions also as part of a strategy to help it end up with more revenue".
He said that the 2007/08 budget alone saw tax exemptions reach 30 per cent of the total revenue collections or 3.5 per cent of the GDP.
He also called on the government to take deliberate measures to control tax evasions, saying the notorious practice had in the recent past denied the country an annual 52bn/- on average.
The government could also reduce the income gap between the highest paid wage earners and the lowest paid ones so that both could benefit from the national cake equitably, he added.
"All these measures are possible if well supervised and implemented. We know that our government is capable of paying the minimum wage demanded by the workers without any other services being adversely affected," Mgaya argued further.
He said Tucta leaders had no hidden political or other agenda "other than protecting and championing the rights of workers through their unions as guided by their constitution".
"Although trade union members have a right to be affiliated to political parties, they do not associate with any particular party when it comes to defending their rights," he noted.
President Kikwete said in his Monday address that the minimum wage demanded by Tucta was unreasonably high, considering the country's meagre sources of revenue, and there was no way the government could meet the demand even in the long term.
"Even if workers were to strike for eight years non-stop, their demands for the new minimum wage proposed would not be granted because the government revenue is well below what they are demanding," he elaborated.
The president said if the government granted the trade unions' demands, workers alone would eat up a hefty 6.8trn/- from its kitty.
He added that the government currently has a 350,000-strong workforce and paying them the 6.8trn/- would mean having to seek a loan amounting to 1.1trn/-.
He said the government could not grant the workers' wage rise demands "because there are numerous other unsolved problems facing the people, among them those relating to access to electricity, water, education, health and transport and communication".
"I just cannot be dragged into hiking salaries as demanded by workers amid suffering by the people simply because I want workers to vote for me (come the October General Election)... The agreement between the government and the workers (Tucta) should not adversely affect the lives of other people," stated President Kikwete.
Tucta shelved its plans for a prolonged countrywide workers' strike that was to have taken place beginning pending negotiations scheduled to resume today.
The workers are demanding, among other things, a hike in wages, a reduction in income tax and improved retirement benefits.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
