Govt reassures civil servants
The finance ministry has dismissed reports about uncertainty over the payment of civil servants' salaries this month.
The Minister of Finance has dismissed reports that claimed there was uncertainty over whether the government would pay salaries this month to ministries that showed a negative bank balance.
“Salaries will be paid as normal,” read a media statement issued on Friday by finance minister Calle Schlettwein.
The statement added that “the payroll for May 2017 has already been finalised and there is therefore no 'government salary uncertainty',” as stated in a weekly newspaper on Friday.
The article on Friday quoted a circular issued this month by cabinet secretary George Simataa, not seen by Namibian Sun but extensively quoted by the newspaper and not disputed by Schlettwein, sent to all government accounting officers, warning them that in order to “allow salaries payment for the month of May 2017 to be processed on time” all government offices, ministries and agencies “must clear these negative minuses (provide sufficient fund to payroll) by latest Tuesday, 23 May 2017.”
On Friday, the finance ministry emphasised that the circular, not disputed in the statement, was a reminder of the importance to ensure adherence to government payroll protocols.
Schlettwein explained that “all government salaries are paid through the government payroll system and all accounting officers for votes in central government must align spending according to the budget allocations. When an Accounting Officer requests funds in excess of what has been made available through a monthly Treasury Authorisation Warrant (TAW), which is the alignment within the budget, such a request is referred back to the accounting officer in order to realign within the given TAW.”
As such, “the communication from secretary to cabinet to accounting officers was intended to remind them of this important requirement,” the statement read.
The weekly newspaper quoted the letter as stating that the government, via the Ministry of Finance, in October 2013 introduced payroll fund checks, which were necessary due to “overspending by some votes on remunerative related items. Payroll Fund Capping is thus put in place to stop payment process when insufficient funds are observed.”
Simataa's communication further noted that there is “great concern” that despite regular reminders and weekly reports to accounting officers and financial advisors “we are sitting with incomplete payroll runs (Normal, Supplementary and Appointment runs) due to the manner how the Treasury Authorised amounts have been split within the spending items, that has resulted into insufficient funds distributed to personnel expenditure items as observed in your vote for May 2017.”
The letter reportedly warns the ministry accounting officers that as a result of this, the government “is unable to continue with the monthly salaries payment during the month of May 2017, unless funds are availed and allocated properly to each line item of personnel expenditure.”
The cabinet secretary's circular reportedly informed ministries that the government payroll is run as a single batch and “hence a failure by one ministry to avail or properly allocate funds affects the rest of the votes regardless of their status in terms of availability of funds.”
The newspaper quoted the letter by Simataa as stating that the government is looking at the option of splitting payroll runs per government offices, agencies and ministries but until such time all accounting officers are urged to “ensure compliance with Treasury circulars that there is always sufficient funds available to cater for payroll runs.”
In early May, Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila revealed that the total number of staff members in the public service, excluding political office bearers and uniformed personnel, stood at close to 68 000. Adding police and army personnel the total number of civil servants in Namibia is likely to be around 100 000.
It is believed the annual wage bill could amount to between N$25 billion to N$28 billion in the current financial year.
This month the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) warned that the large wage bill for the “exceptionally bloated civil service” could eventually lead to major issues for the country in future, ultimately leading to possible revenue collapse and the inability of government to either pay salaries or conduct other affairs.
JANA-MARI SMITH
“Salaries will be paid as normal,” read a media statement issued on Friday by finance minister Calle Schlettwein.
The statement added that “the payroll for May 2017 has already been finalised and there is therefore no 'government salary uncertainty',” as stated in a weekly newspaper on Friday.
The article on Friday quoted a circular issued this month by cabinet secretary George Simataa, not seen by Namibian Sun but extensively quoted by the newspaper and not disputed by Schlettwein, sent to all government accounting officers, warning them that in order to “allow salaries payment for the month of May 2017 to be processed on time” all government offices, ministries and agencies “must clear these negative minuses (provide sufficient fund to payroll) by latest Tuesday, 23 May 2017.”
On Friday, the finance ministry emphasised that the circular, not disputed in the statement, was a reminder of the importance to ensure adherence to government payroll protocols.
Schlettwein explained that “all government salaries are paid through the government payroll system and all accounting officers for votes in central government must align spending according to the budget allocations. When an Accounting Officer requests funds in excess of what has been made available through a monthly Treasury Authorisation Warrant (TAW), which is the alignment within the budget, such a request is referred back to the accounting officer in order to realign within the given TAW.”
As such, “the communication from secretary to cabinet to accounting officers was intended to remind them of this important requirement,” the statement read.
The weekly newspaper quoted the letter as stating that the government, via the Ministry of Finance, in October 2013 introduced payroll fund checks, which were necessary due to “overspending by some votes on remunerative related items. Payroll Fund Capping is thus put in place to stop payment process when insufficient funds are observed.”
Simataa's communication further noted that there is “great concern” that despite regular reminders and weekly reports to accounting officers and financial advisors “we are sitting with incomplete payroll runs (Normal, Supplementary and Appointment runs) due to the manner how the Treasury Authorised amounts have been split within the spending items, that has resulted into insufficient funds distributed to personnel expenditure items as observed in your vote for May 2017.”
The letter reportedly warns the ministry accounting officers that as a result of this, the government “is unable to continue with the monthly salaries payment during the month of May 2017, unless funds are availed and allocated properly to each line item of personnel expenditure.”
The cabinet secretary's circular reportedly informed ministries that the government payroll is run as a single batch and “hence a failure by one ministry to avail or properly allocate funds affects the rest of the votes regardless of their status in terms of availability of funds.”
The newspaper quoted the letter by Simataa as stating that the government is looking at the option of splitting payroll runs per government offices, agencies and ministries but until such time all accounting officers are urged to “ensure compliance with Treasury circulars that there is always sufficient funds available to cater for payroll runs.”
In early May, Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila revealed that the total number of staff members in the public service, excluding political office bearers and uniformed personnel, stood at close to 68 000. Adding police and army personnel the total number of civil servants in Namibia is likely to be around 100 000.
It is believed the annual wage bill could amount to between N$25 billion to N$28 billion in the current financial year.
This month the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) warned that the large wage bill for the “exceptionally bloated civil service” could eventually lead to major issues for the country in future, ultimately leading to possible revenue collapse and the inability of government to either pay salaries or conduct other affairs.
JANA-MARI SMITH
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