The government has assured public servants and pensioners that it is doing whatever it can to pay them by December 23.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!According to a letter from Catherine Bitarakwate, the permanent secretary in the ministry of Public Service, responsible officers have been urged to finalize the processing of salary and pension such that the beneficiaries can have a stress-free festive season.
The letter comes amid worries from many public servants and pensioners that they may not get their December pay before Christmas.
“We are all worried as you know many people have to spend money during this season but so far the signs are not good,” said a senior official in one of the ministries who requested to remain anonymous.
Usually, payments for government workers are processed by the 28th day of every month.
In Bitarakwate’s December 16 letter, she writes that the processing of payments for workers in MDAs (Ministries, Departments, and Agencies) and in local governments had been migrated to the Human Capital Management System HCM), which could cause delays.
“Despite the above deadline (December 23), the desire of government is to pay December 2024 salary and pension earlier to enable public officers and pensioners respectively to celebrate and enjoy Christmas and New Year festivities,” she writes.
Yet given that it takes at least three working days for payment to be reflected on an account in some banks, it is possible that many workers will not get their money by Christmas.
Bitarakwate’s letter is addressed to the responsible officers in government ministries, departments, and agencies.