Reward merit, punish mediocrity, says NYUSI

The time has come to reward merit and penalise mediocrity, declared Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi in Maputo.

Introducing the new “Unified Wage Table” (TSU) for the public administration, Nyusi said this was intended to put an end to the State’s indifference towards questions of professionalism in the public service. Instead, professionalism, dedication and good performance will now be rewarded.

The current system, he added, “does not reward professional merit and does not punish mediocrity. Since there are no incentives, it promotes routine and inertia”.

The State, he stressed, must recognise the competence and dynamism of those who are fighting for an efficient and effective public administration.

The new public administration wage scales, Nyusi said, will no longer depend exclusively on academic qualifications and length of service. Instead, public servants will see their pay rise if they show commitment in the performance of their duties.

At the same time, the confusing proliferation of government decrees and dispatches which has led to the current situation of 63 different wage levels within the state will be cleared away. In future, there will be no more than 21 wage levels.

This matter has been under discussion since at least 2015. There have been many studies, but until now nobody has had the nerve to change the system.

“This is an act of courage”, declared Nyusi. “I know we’ve spent a lot of time on this. Ideas were always appearing, but somebody had to act”.

He admitted that the new wage system would be far from perfect, and might need adjustment. “If there are mistakes, say what’s wrong so that we can advance”, he urged his audience. “Say what’s wrong, so that we can correct it and move forward”.

But Nyusi gave no figures, merely outlining the principles of the new system. The new wage scales gave not yet been made public, but there is a promise that no-one will be worse off under the new system than the old one.

(AIM)