EAST AFRICAN BUSINESS WEEK
Tazara workers demand salaries
DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA - Former employees of the Tanzania - Zambia Railways Authority (TAZARA) have not been paid their three months pensions since November last year.
(The abandoned wagon at Tazara, workers have of recent months not been paid their three months wages Photo By Kenan Kalagho)
Officials from TAZARA confirmed that the Authority does not have money to pay the pensioners.
"This issue is very sensitive because it involves the government of Zambia and that of Tanzania. There is no such money for now," said TAZARA Public Relations Manager Conrad Simuchile.
Mr Simuchile said the Chinese government has been rendering support to TAZARA but 'million of shillings' you usually hear are in form of equipment and training of experts in different capacities but TAZARA does not get cash from China.
He said TAZARA has been expecting new wagons from the Chinese but they have not yet arrived.
"We have been expecting new wagons out of that money from the Chinese government," he said. Probably the wagons will be in Dar es Salaam at the end of this month."
Speaking with theEast African Business Week in Dar es Salaam last week, one of the former employees of TAZARA, Mr. Daudi Mbaga, said they were around 4,000 former employees whose pension salaries have not been remitted to their accounts.
He said last week their taxed funds were not being remitted to the National Insurance Company, a firm which deposits their pension salaries to Tanzania Postal Bank.
"I have worked in this company for my entire life in the production section till my retirement but my pension salaries were not being deposited to the National Insurance Company as we agreed with our employer, said Mr. Mbaga.
"Last week, we had a meeting with Mr Akashambatwa Lewanika (the firm managing director) to discuss our pension salaries' fate but he told us that the railway firm had no money to pay them," said Mr Mbaga.
Mr. Mbaga said; "Once we confronted him, he told us that he had no money to pay us and he will pay us once he gets the money."
An official from TAZARA who preferred anonymity said even the current workers were finding it hard to get salaries salaries.
"Just imagine we have been paid the December salaries in the first week of February and we are still not certain when our January salaries will be paid," the official said.
He said even the December salaries were borrowed from TAZARA Savings and Credit Corporative Society.
"The problem is that TAZARA can hardly transport goods. We have a lot of goods in the depots of Kurasini, Yombo and Bandari in all depots located in Dar es Salaam awaiting to be transported but there are no wagons to transport them due to fuel shortage," the official said.
Officials from TAZARA confirmed that the Authority does not have money to pay the pensioners.
"This issue is very sensitive because it involves the government of Zambia and that of Tanzania. There is no such money for now," said TAZARA Public Relations Manager Conrad Simuchile.
Mr Simuchile said the Chinese government has been rendering support to TAZARA but 'million of shillings' you usually hear are in form of equipment and training of experts in different capacities but TAZARA does not get cash from China.
He said TAZARA has been expecting new wagons from the Chinese but they have not yet arrived.
"We have been expecting new wagons out of that money from the Chinese government," he said. Probably the wagons will be in Dar es Salaam at the end of this month."
Speaking with the
He said last week their taxed funds were not being remitted to the National Insurance Company, a firm which deposits their pension salaries to Tanzania Postal Bank.
"I have worked in this company for my entire life in the production section till my retirement but my pension salaries were not being deposited to the National Insurance Company as we agreed with our employer, said Mr. Mbaga.
"Last week, we had a meeting with Mr Akashambatwa Lewanika (the firm managing director) to discuss our pension salaries' fate but he told us that the railway firm had no money to pay them," said Mr Mbaga.
Mr. Mbaga said; "Once we confronted him, he told us that he had no money to pay us and he will pay us once he gets the money."
An official from TAZARA who preferred anonymity said even the current workers were finding it hard to get salaries salaries.
"Just imagine we have been paid the December salaries in the first week of February and we are still not certain when our January salaries will be paid," the official said.
He said even the December salaries were borrowed from TAZARA Savings and Credit Corporative Society.
"The problem is that TAZARA can hardly transport goods. We have a lot of goods in the depots of Kurasini, Yombo and Bandari in all depots located in Dar es Salaam awaiting to be transported but there are no wagons to transport them due to fuel shortage," the official said.
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