Employers to save Sh50billion as government scraps 11 Osha charges

Dar es Salaam. Employers are saving up to Sh50 billion through the government’s decision to remove some charges associated with the Occupational Safety and Health Authority (Osha).

This was revealed by the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, Labour, Youth, Employment and Persons with Disability), Ms Jenista Mhagama, who said the money should better be spent on improving workers’ working environment in an effort to achieve a sustainable economic growth.

She said at the ongoing 45th Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF) that the 11 charges were inconveniencing traders, so the government decided to scrap them.

“Employers are saving Sh50 billion of what should have been collected as levies and we hope the money will be used to creating a better working environment for workers and not for the companies alone.

If people will be safe that means production will increase and the economy will grow,” she said

Improving working conditions means ensuring that workers have working gear such as gloves and gumboots among others.

She said the government was also undertaking several steps to ease issuance of work permits, noting that the process of obtaining the [work permits] has been reduced from 14 to only three days and that the target was to reduce it further to 24 hours.

“The digital system has helped us and we continue to urge employers and investors to sign up for the Osha system,” she said.

The government, he reassured, will continue with the improvement of the business climate in an effort to attract more investors.

Opening the exhibition on July 5, the Vice President, Dr Philip Mpango, said the government would not tolerate officials of government institutions who impose sanctions on traders and investors.

Dr Mpango warned employers who do not send their employees’ social security contributions on time.