Tanzania pays Sh1.17 trillion in arrears to suppliers, civil servants in one year
Deputy Finance and Planning Minister, Dr Ashatu Kijaji. Photo | Edwin Mjwahuzi
What you need to know:
Dr Ashatu Kijaji said, was above the Sh1 trillion that the parliament had approved for payments of arrears to suppliers and civil servants during the 2017/18 budget.
Dodoma. The government has paid a total of Sh1.17 trillion to its various suppliers and arrears to public servants during the current financial year, the Deputy Finance and Planning Minister, Dr Ashatu Kijaji has said.
This, she said, was above the Sh1 trillion that the parliament had approved for payments of arrears to suppliers and civil servants during the 2017/18 budget.
Responding to various views, advanced by Members of Parliament (MP) during the debate for the ministry’s 2018/19 budget, Dr Kijaji said the government will however continue with the exercise of auditing the debts before making payments.
“We are doing this in good faith. We know where we are coming from. We have spent a lot of money in fraudulent deals in the past and we do not want to get back to that era,” she said.
According to Dr Kijaji, it was not uncommon in the past to hear someone asking for up to Sh500 million in arrears for a single teacher.
She said the money included all the arrears that had been audited until the financial year ending June 2016.
“We are currently auditing the arrears for the financial year ending June 2017 and we will conclude the exercise at the end of this month,” she said.
