Tony Mwaba and Jean-Pierre Lihau harmonize views on pensioner care and payroll management bonus

The Minister of Primary, Secondary, and Technical Education (EPST), Professor Tony Mwaba, was received by the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of the Civil Service, Administrative Modernization, and Public Service Initiatives, Jean-Pierre Lihau. They discussed, in particular, the support provided to retired teachers, the payroll management bonus, and the situation of general-scheme employees and managers assigned to the EPST, who act as free agents. Addressing the issue of teachers’ phased retirement, Minister Tony Mwaba noted that the National Social Security Fund for State Public Servants (CNSSAP) has intervened in the process and the retirement program is now operational. He believes that a mechanism for ongoing collaboration must now be established between the CNSSAP, through the Civil Service, and the Ministry of EPST to address, in particular, the issue of registering retirees for their coverage by the public treasury.   "Once the file is processed and the retired teacher is covered, they become inactive. The information must be relayed back to the EPST sectoral level so that they can be removed from the payroll system because DINACOPE only manages active employees," explained the head of the EPST.   Regarding the payroll management bonus received by staff and managers in the EPST’s central administration, Professor Tony Mwaba noted that there were issues with the September payroll, a situation that required an audit to clean up the declaration lists sent to the payroll department. He noted that some staff members did everything they could to try to prevent this process, but the audit took place, and the report sent to the Deputy Prime Minister shows that there is a discrepancy between the lists of bonus recipients and the actual headcount on the ground. "Now the time has come to draw all the necessary conclusions at every level. At the EPST sectoral level, we will do so. But at the civil service level, we have officially involved the Deputy Prime Minister so that certain measures may be taken at his level," stated the Minister of EPST.   The other issue addressed during this meeting concerns the behavior of certain civil servants and managers from the general civil service assigned to the Ministry of EPST, who act as if they were free agents within a ministry responsible for educational matters; yet there are principles to be respected, even when making demands.   "This is a ministry of education. And we must set an example. Unfortunately, in recent days we have witnessed the emergence of a category of staff members who are not worthy of continuing to work within the EPST. And since it is the Deputy Prime Minister for the Civil Service who assigns them, we have come specifically to discuss this with him. A list will be sent to him so that he may also take appropriate action," concluded Professor Tony Mwaba. Christian BELLA