By Special Correspondent, DAR ES SALAAM
A FISH trader Amir Aman tells Al Jazeera in Dar es
Salaam, three decades are passed before he meets the most sympathetic President
with a soft eye to commoners in Tanzania as President Magufuli does.
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| Solidarity Forever as President Magufuli ends pension formula woes |
Al Jazeera reporter, Catherine Soi, concludes: “President
John Pombe Magufuli is widely accepted as a symbol of decisiveness and
integrity in Tanzania and probably in Africa.” Before her report is archived,
President Magufuli takes the seat of the workers, the work that would be done
by a trade union, and decides in favour of a Tanzanian worker.
When reporters do their search well, they are
mistaken for prophets. In an emotional speech delivered by Tanzanian President Dr.
Magufuli, perhaps the most rated in 2018, these words find deep meaning. He makes
an historic decision in favour of Tanzania workers amid cheers and
ululations.
He touched their hearts and covers their minds. They
roll on the New Year with renewed hopes and great joy. Many see it as a perfect
new year present to the workers in Tanzania, especially those about to retire
in a few months or those who retired in the past few days.
By the powers vested on him, he overruled the new
formulae for retirement benefits, earlier installed by the Social Security
Regulatory Authority (SSRA), which appeared a de-motivation factor to many. He
did not favour it either.
Amid cheers, the President reflected a universally
acknowledged statement, widely accredited in the world of customer care, a
statement which was made by Jesus Christ that, “All things,
therefore, that you want men to do to you, you also must likewise do to them.”
The above statement nails down Government
officials, Social Security Funds, executives and
Members of Parliament to encourage
using the same frames of reference to all retirees as to themselves.
“If a cabinet Minister retires and
receives 25% of their retirement benefits and advised to keep receiving the
rest on a monthly basis all their life, will they buy that?.” he queries
President Magufuli. “They also have their dreams,” he adds reminding the cloud
of representatives of workers at State House in Dar es Salaam on Friday that he
too was a teacher.
Not many leaders in Africa would raise
their voices and put unfairness to rest in peace. Dr Magufuli does it. That is
why a fish trade interviewed by Al Jazeera proudly says Magufuli sympathizes
with the atrocities of the common people.
He always occupies a place of the weak
in the societies. No wonder he is a charismatic leader. Any good leader should
protect the weakest citizen in his country. He does it. Tanzania workers will now enter
the New Year with a broad smile. The President is no ordinary
character. He is a down-to-earth individual, reputed for his “clean record”.
He
Resolves Problems Amicably
In new formulae to administer the retirement
benefits to workers, a retiree receives a lump sum of 25% and receives the rest
is provided in monthly payments all their life. The formulae were not well
received by the trade unions despite the insistence from SSRA. He chose to
plead with the workers, himself being number one civil servant.
The rescinded fomula that returns to status quo
until a permanent one is enacted in 2023, will see workers receiving their
pensions according to different past rates ranging from 25% to 50%. Tanzania is
out implement historic industrial economy. Workers were at the epi-centre of the
new drive which is among many other reforms currently changing Tanzania’s
economic landscape.
He wants workers’ contribution to be recognized. He
wants them treated with dignity and respect for their sacrifice to the nation. “Retirees
served diligently with integrity. They need to be respected. They have their
goals. We have to help them fulfill them,” he reiterates.
During the transition, the President instructed the
authorities to work on new and retiree-friendly a formula which is motivational.
“the retirees deserve not to be frustrated, they gave their best for the nation
and were entitled to happy retirement life,” he says.
Efficiency
Tanzania and most African countries were putting up
with the challenge of inefficiencies. Tanzania has been different because President
Magufuli has introduced his Management Efficiency Model which saw a number of
non-performing state firms profitable.
He calls on the social funds to reform. Most of
their investment projects, aimed to increase the values of the workers
contributions, were hardly viable. The motive could then be corruption.
His matching orders never ends with empty directive,
as we go to press, news confirmed by an English twitter account of the country’s
spokesperson (@TZSpokesperson) confirmed that President Magufuli has fired the
Director General of the SSRA, Dr. Irene Isaka.
He also notes lack of prudence in their spending. This
tendency leads fraud. He wants cost cuts and rationalization. The President
calls for prudence in resource spending. It is true that these measures will
leave sufficient resources to the social security to improve the workers
retirement benefits.
‘I will keep an eye on the running of the funds,” he
assures adding, “I will monitor your funds so that you get the best benefits
from the money you entrusted in the funds,” he says.
Improving
the Registry
He called on the responsible
Ministry to work with the funds to identify ghost retirees. This is true. There
could be double registrations. One of the fraudulent issues Dr Magufuli dealt
with in his first 100 days was to identify ghost workers. The exercise was very
successful.
Double registry is a
common feature in most places on the continent. Tanzania has made quite
impressive advances to curtail this type of graft.
His
take on Innovation
Dr Magufuli also wants
optional packages to be floated to the workers. “Why can’t you come up with
optional packages?” For example those retiring at 60 should get premium rates
than those served for only 5 years?
There is no harm to provide
70% or 100% of the benefits to a retiree who wants to realize their dreams with
the retirement money. What the President sees
is loyalty, a very important factor for any delivery. More productivity is
expected from a ticked worker. Expectations drive performance.
In addition, this type
of innovation presented by President Magufuli will encourage more workers to
remain in employment, maintain discipline and employ more effort with a
likelihood of enhanced productivity.
The President makes
another innovative submission. This makes a lot of business sense in any
organization. If you want to grow, then you have to look at the numbers. Broad
the membership zone is another strategy for collections growth. NSSF focuses on the private
sector. This includes the informal sector. It is capable of recruiting many
members from the sector hence provides a healthy collection account.
Creative
President Who sees Opportunities
Being a mathematics teacher,
President Magufuli has been continuing to identify the opportunities most executives
turned blind eye on. He manifests the powers of imaginations. This is the source
of intelligence to human beings, as argues Prof. Albert Einstein.
“Cost cuts, prudent
spending and continued improvements in tax collections would enhance our
abilities to meet the demands of our retirees. There will be 58,000
workers to retire in the next five years of transition, “we will meet all their
dues,” Dr Magufuli assures.
All in all, President
Magufuli, a popular President in Tanzania, is touched by the needs of the
common people and truly sympathetic of their wellbeing. He raises Tanzania out
of ordinary to management efficiency levels.
The workers in
Tanzania, particularly those planning to retire in the next 12 months, can now
go back to draw up their new year resolutions with a broad laugh on Magufulification
effect.
ends
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