SUMBAWANGA: THE Kalambo District Council in the Rukwa Region owes public civil servants, including teachers, over 2.10bn/- in unpaid salary and non-salary arrears, it has been recently disclosed.
Civil servants are now voicing their frustrations, demanding payment for long-overdue dues related to salaries, transfers, medical treatment and retirement benefits that have gone unpaid for some time.
This revelation came during a meeting with teachers from primary and secondary schools, held in Matai Town and attended by Kalambo District Commissioner, Dr Lazaro Komba.
During the meeting, a representative of the Kalambo District’s Tanzania Teachers Union (TTU), Mr Dustan Mshaga said that public school teachers in the district are owed more than 714.02m/- in unsettled salary arrears and 402.1m/- in non-salary arrears, including transfer arrears.
Mr Mshaga expressed that the unpaid claims are demoralising teachers and negatively impacting the quality of education being delivered.
“Teachers have become demoralised… but I appeal to them to continue working hard and responsibly, while TTU keeps reminding the government of the importance of paying teachers’ claims on time,” he said.
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He further said that while the government is committed to improving teachers’ welfare, it must address the challenges they face, particularly the timely settlement of their claims.
Mr Mshaga noted a significant shortage of teachers in the district, with primary schools facing a 45 per cent shortage and secondary schools experiencing a 40 per cent shortfall.
“There is also an imbalance in the distribution of teachers, with rural areas being underserved as many teachers tend to move to urban centres,” he added.
“There are many public primary schools in Kalambo facing severe teacher shortages, with some schools having as few as four teachers,” he further explained.
In response, Dr Komba said that unpaid salary arrears totalling 1.6bn/- have already been forwarded to the Treasury for further action.
He said another 1.3bn/- in unpaid non-salary arrears for civil servants have been submitted to the Treasury.
He instructed Kalambo District Council Executive Director, Mr Shafi Mpenda, to cooperate with workers’ organisations and TTU to verify and quantify the actual unpaid salaries and non-salaries demanded by Kalambo’s public civil servants and teachers.
Dr Komba also reassured that the government is taking steps to improve working conditions for teachers by ensuring that essential services are made available.
“This will allow teachers to work without needing to relocate to urban centres,” added the District Commissioner.
