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07:37Last update on: 13 Aug 2013
The Namibian
Tue 13 Aug 2013
SMS Of The Day * MINISTRY of Gender and Child Welfare, TEARS are rolling down as I write this SMS. The killing of women in Namibia is now like reciting a poem. Are we really getting the protection we deserve while women not being treated as part of this c Food For Thought * SO the Zimbabwe elections were free and peaceful and not free and fair? Bouquets And Brickbats * NURSES at Katutura Hospital must stop wearing those big plastic sandals at work because they are not the official working shoes. We want to see you looking smart and beautiful with your full uniform. SMS Of The Day * THIS nation is in dire need of a massive conference on housing. When we experienced a crisis in the education sector a crisis-control brain-storming conference was organised which resulted in the best deal ever for the Namibian child, nam Food For Thought * BOURGEOISIE has become a daily occupation if not the order of the day of the upper-echelons, President Hifikepunye Pohamba we urge you to revisit this unpatriotic geocentricism among your staff and the well-connected, for everybody to r Bouquets And Brickbats * COMMISSIONER of Prisons, can you please explain the strategies you use to appoint officers to certain positions? It is my observation that you are being fed with wrong information then you just promote individuals without making p SMS Of The Day * I THINK Paulus ‘The Rock’ Ambunda lost his belt because of this promoter and trainer. How can a world champion still be training at the Katutura Youth Complex where there is not enough equipment. I think they must follow the example of Ha Food For Thought * NAMIBIA Dairies are unable to match low prices of imported milk and this ultimately means the consumer will have to pay more for local milk. Look at the prices of the local chicken. All these profits are going in the pockets of a few in Bouquets And Brickbats * I AM pleased to hear that Cabinet has responded positively to the proposal of Namibia Dairies to support the industry. The restrictions which support the industry by reducing competition to ensure the survival of the industry is a SMS Of The Day * CEO’s golden handshakes. Somewhere on our statute books there must be a provision that if a board of directors suspends/dismisses a CEO without due regard to legal provision (substantive/procedural law) such board must carry the costs for Food For Thought * JACKY Asheeke was so right with her last column- why are the fathers of the dead children not being prosecuted? (Reference to the children who died in shack fires last week) Our justice system still protects men over women. In this cont Bouquets And Brickbats * ALEXACTUS Kaure, your column in Friday’s newspaper opened my eyes. One hardly finds impartial case study analysers in Namibia. Let’s not destroy the Polytechnic’s strong foundation (Tjivikua) as yet. At least wait until the transf
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NEWS - NAMIBIA | 2013-07-22
Nangula Mbako
Mbako urges civil servants to be patient
Shinovene Immanuel
THE permanent secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Nangula Mbako, said they will ‘soon’ make an announcement about the new civil servant remuneration system that is set to be enforced.
The Namibian has in recent weeks been flooded with enquiries and complaints about the new system called the ‘Public Service Pay and Grading structure’.
“We will issue a statement soon. Just be patient,” Mbako said in an interview.
Among others, complaints had been addressed to the education sector. “One would not understand why the recruitment qualification requirement for the Inspector of Education is higher than that of a director and yet it is equivalent to the principal’s post,” explained a concerned reader.
“Why is it necessary to demand honours degree educational skills for the inspector position, which is on par with the principal post for which a BETD [Basic Education Teacher. Diploma], with all its short-comings, is a requirement?”
The reader questioned why an inspector on a salary grade of five could supervise, interview or investigate/discipline another colleague (a principal) in the same grade.
“Was it an oversight from gate-keepers who approved the regrading or a wanton act to demoralise”.
Asked about a process update to their members, Basilius Haingura, the general secretary of the Namibia National Teachers Union, said their members are already informed about the latest developments on the regrading system and that there was no need to tell them through the media.
His counterpart at the Namibia Public Workers Union, Petrus Nevonga, was however more open in saying that everything is on track and the system will be implemented soon.
“It cannot be [done] in two months,” he said when asked about the exact date.
The two biggest trade unions in the country in the past bemoaned the lack of time given to them to discuss the imminent overhaul of civil servant salaries. Nevonga admitted that “there will be some hiccups here and there” and that government has been responsive to those concerns.
According to him, there are some categories, which are not deemed satisfactory by the public while others have pleased the affected people.
“We are communicating and it’s leading to an amicable solution,” he said.
According to a correspondence written by Mbako at the end of June, “back pay from 1 April 2013 (date of implementation) will start from the second week of July 2013. The correct salary will be on the pay slip at the end of July 2013” she wrote.
While there are some who wanted the new grading system to be implemented; there are other civil servants who feel the document, which was supposed to be implemented in April already is now being rushed.
A reader pleaded with Prime Minister Hage Geingob to recall the document back for a review.
“Things that are rushed [and] are not thoroughly thought through are earmarked for failure. There must be no rush. We can wait for another three to six months, because justice has not been done with this so-called re-grading, Sir.”
The salary revamp has attracted criticism as well as praise since its enactment, considering that the current process will affect about two thirds of the 93 000 government employees and its implementation this year cost nearly N$2 billion. The public service has about 264 job categories and each category is divided into four to six functional levels.
“We will issue a statement soon. Just be patient,” Mbako said in an interview.
Among others, complaints had been addressed to the education sector. “One would not understand why the recruitment qualification requirement for the Inspector of Education is higher than that of a director and yet it is equivalent to the principal’s post,” explained a concerned reader.
“Why is it necessary to demand honours degree educational skills for the inspector position, which is on par with the principal post for which a BETD [Basic Education Teacher. Diploma], with all its short-comings, is a requirement?”
The reader questioned why an inspector on a salary grade of five could supervise, interview or investigate/discipline another colleague (a principal) in the same grade.
“Was it an oversight from gate-keepers who approved the regrading or a wanton act to demoralise”.
Asked about a process update to their members, Basilius Haingura, the general secretary of the Namibia National Teachers Union, said their members are already informed about the latest developments on the regrading system and that there was no need to tell them through the media.
His counterpart at the Namibia Public Workers Union, Petrus Nevonga, was however more open in saying that everything is on track and the system will be implemented soon.
“It cannot be [done] in two months,” he said when asked about the exact date.
The two biggest trade unions in the country in the past bemoaned the lack of time given to them to discuss the imminent overhaul of civil servant salaries. Nevonga admitted that “there will be some hiccups here and there” and that government has been responsive to those concerns.
According to him, there are some categories, which are not deemed satisfactory by the public while others have pleased the affected people.
“We are communicating and it’s leading to an amicable solution,” he said.
According to a correspondence written by Mbako at the end of June, “back pay from 1 April 2013 (date of implementation) will start from the second week of July 2013. The correct salary will be on the pay slip at the end of July 2013” she wrote.
While there are some who wanted the new grading system to be implemented; there are other civil servants who feel the document, which was supposed to be implemented in April already is now being rushed.
A reader pleaded with Prime Minister Hage Geingob to recall the document back for a review.
“Things that are rushed [and] are not thoroughly thought through are earmarked for failure. There must be no rush. We can wait for another three to six months, because justice has not been done with this so-called re-grading, Sir.”
The salary revamp has attracted criticism as well as praise since its enactment, considering that the current process will affect about two thirds of the 93 000 government employees and its implementation this year cost nearly N$2 billion. The public service has about 264 job categories and each category is divided into four to six functional levels.
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(August 13)
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