Government will pay “13th month” by next Tuesday

Maputo, 8 Feb (AIM) – The Mozambican government is already paying the New Year bonus to state employees, and hopes to complete the payment by Tuesday, the government spokesperson, the Minister of State Administration, Inocencio Impissa, told reporters on Friday.

The bonus is known as “the 13th month”, since it is equivalent to an extra month’s payment of the basic wage.
Shortly before Christmas, the then Prime Minister, Adriano Maleiane, announced that the government does not have enough money to pay the bonus. He claimed that the state budget only contained enough money to pay the December wage bill, and to solve “some specific questions, particularly with regard to education” (a reference to the overtime payments that teachers had been demanding for months).

Trade unions, representing some workers in the public service, immediately threatened to go on strike. The new government, under President Daniel Chapo, then reversed its predecessor’s decision and found the money necessary to pay the bonus.

Impissa said the 13th month would be paid, but only in February. For most of the public service, only 50 per cent of the bonus will be paid, but for state pensioners, the figure rises to 100 per cent. This was enough to persuade the unions to call off the strike.

On Friday, Impissa told reporters that so far about 50 per cent of all workers of the public administration have received their 13th month. He believed that the rest will be paid by next Tuesday, assuming that the state institutions they work for submit the relevant wage sheets on time. In absolute terms, this means that about 200,000 state employees have now received the bonus.

Friday was the last day for the missing wage sheets to be submitted. Impissa was confident that they would arrive, and payment would then be made.

Asked about the teachers who are refusing to mark the end-of-year examination papers until they are paid for the overtime they have worked. Impissa said the government is still in dialogue with the teachers. He stressed that payment of teachers’ basic wages is up-to-date, and the only question is when the overtime will be paid.

Impissa added that, in the first 100 days of the new government, overtime should be held to a minimum. As from now, overtime worked by teachers must be paid the following month, to avoid the accumulation of debts to the teachers.

Impissa said the government is speaking with representatives of the United States government in an attempt to reverse the decision to suspend foreign aid. Even though the Trump administration announced that the suspension is initially only for 90 days, Impissa said it would have a strong impact on Mozambique, even though life-saving aid in the health sector is supposed to be exempt.

Impissa called for those affected by the cuts to stay calm, and assured them that the government is attempting to reverse or mitigate the effects. It was also seeking to mobilise alternative sources of funding.

Impissa added that the government will also “redefine priorities and make the best use of existing resources” to minimise the impact of the cuts on essential services.

The American support, provided through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), has been fundamental for such critical programmes as the response to HIV/AIDS, the fight against tuberculosis, and family planning.

“The sudden withdrawal of this support to some extent compromises efficiency in the implementation of these programmes”, said the Minister.

Impissa noted that Mozambique has a ratio of 18.5 health professionals per each 10,000 inhabitants. The target set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) is 45 health professionals per 10,000 people. “We are a very long way from this target”, he said, “and this suspension decreed by the United States will impose an enormous challenge for us meeting the target”.

Impissa promised that from now on the government will give regular, weekly press briefings, meeting with journalists every Friday.

This revives a practice from the 1990s, when the late Pascoal Mocumbi, the first prime minister under the then President Joaquim Chissano, made a point of briefing the press every Friday. But after Mocumbi left office, the practice stopped. It was rare indeed for Chissano’s successors, Armando Guebuza and Filipe Nyusi, or their prime ministers, to give press briefings.
(AIM)
Pf/ (719)