Lekhetho Ntsukunyane
All Basotho Convention (ABC) stalwart, Sam Rapapa, has commended government for increasing civil servants’ salaries by six percent for the 2015/16 financial year.
Mr Rapapa said this was “the first time the Congress government had given a reasonable increment” to its workers.
The current government comprises the Democratic Congress, Lesotho Congress for Democracy, Popular Front for Democracy, Lesotho People’s Congress, Basotho Congress Party, Marematlou Freedom Party and National Independent Party, and came to power after the 28 February 2015 snap elections.
Led by DC leader Pakalitha Mosisili, the seven-party coalition replaced a tripartite administration comprising the ABC, LCD and Basotho National Party, which collapsed two years into its tenure due to a vicious power-struggle between ABC leader and Prime Minister Thomas Thabane and deputy premier, LCD leader Mothetjoa Metsing.
Commenting on Friday’s announcement by Finance Minister ’Mamphono Khaketla during her 2015/16 budget presentation in parliament that civil servants would receive a six-percent pay adjustment, Mr Rapapa said this was a good gesture by the government.
“I would like to congratulate them (coalition government) for a job well done on this one. This is the first time in the history of the Congress government that they increase civil servants’ salaries by such a reasonable percentage.
“The largest increase they had ever proposed in the 14 years they were in government (1998-2012) was five percent. On that point, I should congratulate them for the milestone,” said Mr Rapapa, a Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Culture Principal Secretary in Dr Thabane’s government.
Under Dr Thabane’s administration, civil servants were awarded a four-percent salary increase for 2014/15 and six percent in 2013/14.
However, while praising government for the salary increase, Mr Rapapa expressed disappointment with some of the budget’s proposals, among them the M50 increase for old-age pensions which used to be M500 a month.
Dr Khaketla noted in her maiden budget speech: “It has been Government’s policy to gradually adjust Old Age Pensions, to limit their rate of depletion and bring them closer to the minimum income required for a decent living. It is therefore, proposed that the Old Age Pensions be increased from M500 to M550.”
According to Mr Rapapa, the adjustment was not only an insult to the pensioners but also “shameful”.
“It is unfair and shameful that the government only increased the monthly pensions by M50. The minister mentions in her speech that inflation is high, yet she does not reflect this in the pensions of the elderly. She even mentions that the money should not be below the living wage. Yet one thing worth mentioning is that these elderly people are also taking care of their grandchildren with this money because most people dying these days are young adults. They leave orphans behind who are then looked after by their grandparents, who are obviously unemployed. When we were in government, we increased the money by M100 each year beginning 2013. The government should have at least maintained that and not decrease it to a mere M50.”
Mr Rapapa also criticised the M25.5 million allocated to the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO), which he insisted was not enough.
Dr Khaketla noted: “A large amount of money that could be used for development is lost to corruption. Fighting corruption should not only be the responsibility of the government, but should be tackled by the entire nation. Our institutions need to be supported to carry out their mandate of dealing with this cancer that is killing our economy. To this end, the budget proposes an allocation of M25.5 million to the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences, part of which will go towards acquiring forensic equipment and IT (Information Technology) infrastructure. This should help speed up investigations. Priority must and will be given to fighting corruption and criminal cases.”
However, Mr Rapapa said this was but a charade by government.
“They are claiming to fight corruption but M25.5 million for the DCEO is just too little for the task at hand. The DCEO should be capacitated in the use of expensive forensic expertise and that cannot be achieved with a budget as little as that. The minister said the reason government funds were not being used effectively was because of corruption, and this should also have been reflected in the budget allocated to a body tasked with fighting this scourge.”
He further indicated the M224.3 million proposed for the agricultural sector was too little to ensure Lesotho became food-secure.
“This amount is little compared to what we put in 2012 when we got into government. We put M146 million for summer cropping then, and that as three years ago. One would have expected a reasonable increase for the sector this time around.”
Mr Rapapa further criticised the budget for “failing to address, among others, youth issues and the development of small businesses”.
He, however, shared similar sentiments with the minister that the number of civil servants needed to be reduced.
“My suggestion would be that they should reduce the age by which civil servants should retire. At the moment, you find people as old as 58 years still working in government.
“There should be a strict law which says when a person is 50 years old, he or she should retire. Or alternatively, in my opinion, if anyone has worked for more than 15 years in government, even if he or she is not yet 50, he or she should just leave.
“There is absolutely no need for a university graduate to be in government from a tender age of 23 until he or she is 55. All they need is experience so that they can explore opportunities elsewhere but not in the government system.”