Mozambique | TSU: Civil service salary scale an exercise in incompetence – NGO

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Mozambique | TSU: Civil service salary scale an exercise in incompetence – NGO

3:49 CAT | 03 Nov 2022

File photo: Lusa

Mozambican non-governmental organisation Centre for Public Integrity on Thursday pointed to the “fragility of legislative production” of parliament as responsible for the “unconstitutionality” of the single wage table (TSU) in the state, noting the spectre of strikes.

“The approval of the single wage scale has brought to light the fragility of legislative production in the country, specifically of the parliament, as the highest legislative body in the country,” says an analysis by the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP).

The NGO noted that the fact that the TSU was approved once by parliament and returned for a second approval, due to “inconsistencies,” also reflects the shortcomings of the Mozambican legislative body.

“This body has not undertaken its powers, in this area, with responsibility, balance and serenity, which should be its hallmark,” reads the CIP statement.

The analysis considers unconstitutional that the law that approves the TSU gives powers to the government to approve the salaries of judges, noting that this sector is part of sovereign bodies, which are the courts.

The aggression of the TSU on the sovereignty of the judiciary had already been pointed out by the Mozambican Association of Judges, before the approval of the new remuneration matrix, CIP noted.

Doctors and teachers had also already warned about the document’s vices, but this challenge did not prevent the diploma from being approved with deficiencies, noted the NGO.

“The TSU is an exercise in technical and legal incompetence by those who drafted it,” because “it goes on to reduce the remuneration guarantees of public servants,” highlighted the CIP.

It is, the analysis continued, an “unconstitutional, illegal and irregular” norm.

The NGO also considered that the table devalues ordinary state employees and values those who hold management and leadership positions.

Even more seriously, the TSU undervalues the academic training of civil servants, it added.

In a note dated 28 October, the Medical Association of Mozambique threatened to hold a national strike to challenge irregularities in its TSU framework.

“The strike will last for 21 extendable days, beginning at 07:00 on 7 November,” the Medical Association of Mozambique said, a day after a national meeting of the profession that brought together doctors from across the country.

In letters published in the media, groups of teachers have also threatened to paralyse activity and boycott the exams that will start in the coming weeks, complaining about errors in the integration of the new salary scales in the state.

On Wednesday, dozens of employees of Mozambique’s ministry of economy and finance gathered in front of the institution’s headquarters in Maputo, protesting against errors in fitting them into the new salary scales in force in the state.

The employees dispersed a few hours later, still in the morning, in a spontaneous way, under the watchful eye of members of the rapid intervention unit (UIR) and the protection police.

Following these actions by the professional groups, the ministry of economy and finance called a press conference to assure that a commission has been created, with a mandate of one year, for the attendance, within 15 days, of every complaint of the public servants about the new salary scale, warning about the damage of strikes in the state.

“The commission has a one-year mandate,” and “it has a deadline of 15 days to deal with potential complaints that are referred to it,” said the deputy minister for economy and finance, Amilcar Tivane.

Source: Lusa