Local News

PM scoffs at super-salary rumour

Mr Mizengo Pinda

NONE among the three top executives in government earns a gross salary of 10m/- per month even as widespread rumours in social media networks pegged President Jakaya Kikwete’s salary at 32m/- while that of the Prime Minister, Mr Mizengo Pinda, has been pegged at 26m/-.

Mr Pinda told Parliament during the ‘’Questions to the Prime Minister’’ session on Thursday that the talk that the three top government officials have salaries above 20m/- per month is ‘not true.’

“I have heard this several times through the media but when I heard it from Honourable Zitto Kabwe, I was shocked,” the prime minister said while responding to questions raised by Mkanyageni lawmaker, Habib Juma Mnyaa, who wanted to know if the rumours are true.

The premier further noted that while his gross salary is 6m/- per month, which includes his wife, Mama Tunu Pinda’s allowance, the difference between his salary and that of the Vice-President, Dr Mohamed Gharib Bilal, is hardly 1m/-.

“I can assure you that the difference between my salary and that of the vice-president and the president is not more than 1m/- in between us,” Mr Pinda stressed.

Mr Mnyaa had demanded to know where the rumoured hefty pay packages for the three top executives got their approval, as they had never been endorsed by Parliament.

The prime minister further informed the House that apart from the salaries, the three top executives are entitled to free accommodation, food and transport provided by the state. “Our country has one of the best systems of remunerating public officials, which clearly defines the limitations of such perks,” he argued.

Mr Pinda said he makes the best use of commercial banks to get loans, which he invests in projects to boost his income, urging lawmakers to go for banks loans to subsidise their incomes through profitable investments.

The Speaker, Ms Anne Makinda, commended the prime minister for clearing the air on the controversial hefty salary payments as spread by the media, saying there is need to put a stop to such rumours.

She, however, declined comment when asked by reporters if rumours that lawmakers are earning 11.2m/- a month are true.

Meanwhile, the PM has assured the public that the biometric voting system (BVS) will be used during the 2015 general elections, while responding to Ole lawmaker (CUF) Rajab Mbarouk Khatibu who wondered whether such a move was tenable.

“Is the BVS possible in the next general elections, bearing in mind that NEC has been slow in updating the permanent voters register (PVR)?” Mr Khatibu asked.

Mr Pinda said it’s true that the government has been facing budgetary constraints to finance such exercises but with time and an improvement in collection, the constraint will be overcome.

In another development, the PM warned members of the public against encroaching conservation areas. Responding to Kasulu Urban lawmaker (NCCR-Mageuzi), Mr Moses Machali, Mr Pinda said the problem being faced by Kasulu farmers is a result of deliberate encroachment of conservation areas.

“Let me advise the people not to trespass into protected areas; the case of Kasulu is that of people invading conservation land,” he appealed.

He informed the House after getting a briefing from the regional commissioner, who conceded that crops were destroyed to force the farmers off the protected area, adding, however, that the exercise has been suspended until the end of the harvesting season.