Govt’s plan to introduce performance contracts could not have

The move will be part of fulfillment of President John Magufuli’s campaign promise to put in place a civil service that would be capable of delivering for common mwananchi by cutting down on public waste,  mostly caused by payments to ghost workers, fake certificate holders and impersonators.

This is yet another move by JPM to quickly reinforce his steadfast policy of zero-tolerance to corruption, a move that comes hot on the heels of the nationwide operation that uncovered close to 20,000 ghost workers who were estimated to have been siphoning over 1 billion shillings per month from government coffers.

Among the ghost workers were names of Tanzanians who had been dead for decades but who, somehow, continued to receive salaries from the comfort of their graves before the fifth phase government moved in to end the madness.The move to launch a system where public servants will be held to established standards is a clear message to economic saboteurs that the current administration will not accept the kind of mediocrity that characterised public service in the past.

In cognizance of the vacuum that has been created by the continuing purge, the government has already secured the services of over 9,000 qualified Tanzanians to fill the vacant positions that currently exist in diverse, and key, government departments. 

JPM’s resolve to end the rot at the heart of government departments deserves praise from all Tanzanians. In the past we have seen powerful leaders and government hotshots openly promoting nepotism and cronyism during appointments to government jobs. Such appointments meant that Tanzanians from poor economic backgrounds missed out on job opportunities they were qualified for because they did not have any bigwig to vouch for them.

However, the election of Magufuli seems to have set in motion the beginning of the end of such an unfair culture.

We are hoping that the president’s bold moves will provide the opportunity for the country to open a new page where only deserving Tanzanians will be able to hold government jobs.  This will instill transparency, efficiency and ensure that the government gets value for money, with regards to the calibre of employees that will form its workforce. 

In the long run, these key policy changes - minor as they may seem to a few sceptics - will be the catalysts that will propel Tanzania towards developing the middle income economy that the country has embarked on.