Layoff fears grip civil servants as ministries merge

Dar es Salaam. Worries about retrenchment and demotion have been mounting among the nearly 400,000 public employees since President John Magufuli announced the merging of some ministries in December last year.

President Magufuli formed a cabinet of only 18 ministries led by 19 ministers and 15 deputies, forcing a merger and scrapping of some ministries to fulfil a campaign promise of a lean cabinet.

There were 30 ministries in the previous administration of President Magufuli’s predecessor, Mr Jakaya Kikwete.

The ministries that were merged include Livestock and Fisheries Development; Regional Administration and Local Government and Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Others were East African Cooperation, Community Development, Gender and Children, Ministry of State Prime Minister’s Office for Investment and Empowerment, and the Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology.

Over two months since the merger of the ministries, inquiries reveal some public servants have been rendered idle with some not having done a single thing to date.

Those affected belong to the merged ministries, with our inquiries confirming staff there were largely reporting to work to while away time. But these workers are worried.  Some told The Citizen on Sunday that they were not certain about their fate in the wake of Magufuli’s public expenditure cost-cutting drive.

They decried not being assigned duties for nearly three months now.  “We are worried as we do not know what the government is planning for us. We keep going to the office but in reality we are doing nothing,” said one civil servant, who asked not to be named fearing repercussions.

With ministries expected to table their respective 2016/2017 budget estimates in the next parliamentary session starting April, those affected are in a dilemma, not knowing whether the new budget will accommodate them or not.

“We understand that each ministry presents its budget according to its plans, so far we do not know where we belong. There is a possibility the government will declare us redundant,” another of the concerned civil servant said. 

The new ministries, which resulted from merging two or more ministries, include Regional Administration, Local Government, Civil Service and Good Governance, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment,  Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, EAC, Regional and International Cooperation and the Ministry of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, Labour, Employment, Youth and the Disabled.

Earlier in December, Chief Secretary Ombeni Sefue said permanent secretaries from the merged ministries would be assigned duties and assured them that retrenchment was not an option the government was considering.

He said funds allocated to  the 2015/2016 budget would continue flowing to ministries regardless. According to Mr Sefue, the government was looking to realign and re-allocate civil servants and that everybody would be accommodated accordingly. The only other time that a top state official hinted at retrenchment was when Treasury Registrar Laurence Mafuru told heads of government agencies and corporations to operate commercially as they would no longer be subsidised. He warned those that were making losses would be required to close shop or reduce their blotted work force.   And only last week, the minister for Transport, Prof Makame Mbarawa, was quoted as saying that workers at the loss making Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL), would be reduced to have a small but profitable team.   

The Citizen on Sunday has separately learnt that the public workers have been asked to submit their Curriculum Vitae (CVs), a move that only served to heighten the current anxiety. 

One of those who have submitted their resumes and who cannot be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said they were supplied with a specific format and guidelines for writing the CVs before submitting them to the ministry’s administrative director. “We do not know why the government needs these CVs after all the years we have worked,” she said.  

“It is likely that some people will be retrenched as some positions in the new ministries need only one official in office. But each of the old ministries had similar departments and positions,” said the worker.

Our sources indicated that so far, even PSs whose ministries were merged have nothing much to do.  “It is saddening to see a former PS arriving in office every day without a specific job to do,” said a middle level director in one of the ministries. According to the source, the PSs only attend meetings at the now parent ministry when required to.

But when reached for clarification, the Minister of State in the President’s Office-Public Service Management and Good Governance, Ms Angellah Kairuki, said civil servants should not worry as the government does not plan to retrench them. She said her office was not aware of the submission of CVs by civil servants.