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Pinda supports idea on having an ex-EAC workers probe committee
2008-07-25 10:05:37
By Bilal Abdul-Aziz, Dodoma
Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda yesterday supported an idea to form a joint government-parliament committee to probe into the long-standing issue of ex-East African Community (EAC) workers.
Pinda, who was speaking during the lawmakers` direct questions to the Prime Minister in Parliament here, said the government was committed to ending the problem and actually, was on course of completely bringing it to an end.
"I accept the suggestion, and I am ready because, there will be no problem at all with the idea," said the Premier, in response to a question by leader of the parliamentary opposition, Hamad Rashid Mohamed.
The Wawi legislator had said that there were serious discrepancies over the process and procedure in paying accumulated dues to the ex-EAC workers and that the issue should not be left unattended because it had taken so long.
Pinda suggested that before forming the committee, the government would do a number of things, including advertising on the issue by publishing in the mass media, names of ex-workers, so that all of them are known.
``We shall publish in newspapers, names of ex-workers who have already received payments, cheques that have been collected and those which were issued, including workers who did not turn up to collect them until they became stale,`` he said.
The Prime Minister said the government believes the bigger part of the problem has already been solved, and warned against people who took advantage of the ex-EAC workers plight by claiming to fight for their rights.
``I am informed that some people have come out to speak on behalf of the ex-workers…and that the ex-workers are reported to be making contributions for them to do that job,`` cautioned the Premier.
In his basic question to Pinda, Hamad had demanded explanation from the government on action by the government to end the problem, which he said had remained unresolved since 2003.
Giving an example to prove some workers had not received payments yet, he presented the case of one ex-workers, he identified, as Abdallah issa Khamis, who proved to him with documents that he had not been paid.
``It`s possible…there might be something like that…that\'s why the deputy minister for Finance and Economic Affairs had made an appeal to any ex-worker who hadn`t got the payment yet to contact him in person,`` explained Pinda.
The parliamentary opposition head said that he still believes that not all ex-workers, who served the EAC before it collapsed in the late 1970s, have been paid their duties, estimated to be totalling around 400bn/-.
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