Mozambique: Chapo prepares changes to the Single Salary Table

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Mozambique: Chapo prepares changes to the Single Salary Table

2:08 CAT | 03 Jun 2025

FILE - The Mozambican government has had difficulty paying public servants' salaries on time. Would it be able to cope with a generalized increase in salaries? [File photo: DW/M. Sampaio]

The promise to standardize and enhance careers has turned into a cycle of frustrations, with the government recently announcing yet another review of the Single Salary Table. Could this review be the last review?

Three years have passed since the implementation of the Single Salary Table (TSU), but thousands of public servants in Mozambique still lack adequate support or career advancement.

One more review – more promises and the same starting point: public servants armed, paralyzed administration and a system that continues to generate more doubts than solutions.

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In May, the Mozambican government approved a new revision of the TSU in an attempt to respond to criticism from civil servants and, for example, unblock the administration of career promotions.

The idea would be to facilitate career management, correct salary injustices and finally allow the expected administrative acts. But for the National Association of Teachers of Mozambique (ANAPRO), the news brought more fear than relief.

Indebted state

“We do not believe that they will revise [salaries] upwards for the benefit of employees because the state is highly indebted,” said ANAPRO spokesperson Marcos Mulima.

“Until it is true that the salary will be increased, we demand the reinstatement of the subsidies that were taken away from us, because the teaching class, especially N1 teachers, was completely unfairly treated by the TSU,” he added.

Since the implementation of the Single Salary Table in 2022, the system has already undergone multiple corrections. Some of these have resolved specific cases, but the structural problems remain. Some examples are the flaws in the classification criteria, lack of transparency in the processes and an “institutional silence” regarding those who were left behind.

The Minister of State Administration and Public Service, Inocêncio Impissa, acknowledged the difficulties.

Magistrates and doctors were the classes most harmed by the TSU, explains university professor Hilário Chacate, author of the book “The Paradoxes of the Implementation of a Controversial Salary Reform in Mozambique”.

Chacate believes that, with the new review of the TSU, Daniel Chapo’s executive is trying to seek legitimacy in the public service. “It would be difficult for the current government to govern and have legitimacy without addressing this issue with some assertiveness and showing interest in overcoming this problem,” he adds.

Difficulties

Meanwhile, the Mozambican government has had difficulties in paying public servants’ salaries on time. Would it then be able to cope with a general increase in salaries?

“If the government wants to resolve this, it has to focus on perks, because the expenses are not borne by lower-level employees. The government has to cut perks and reduce the allowances of government officials. From there, there may be some rationalization of the few resources available,” Chacate explains.

Teresa Boene, an economist at the Centre for Public Integrity, also agrees that expenses need to be reduced. “There is a need to review the pressure on finances, be realistic about the limited resources and have a rigorous budget prioritization and eliminate unnecessary expenses,” she argues.

Boene also draws attention to “the risk of a new crisis, if this review is poorly structured, or creates unrealistic expectations”.

The review approved in May defines the minimum and maximum levels of careers and professional categories and establishes the criteria for progression.

The government has not yet presented a clear plan to compensate for the damages already caused by the implementation of the Single Salary Scale – including compensating professionals who were misplaced or left out of the system for months or years.

Source: Deutsche Welle