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Toronto – In what appears to be an omen of deepening financial crisis affecting the Ethiopian government, salaries are not paid in time for public servants in the Wolaita zone of Southern Ethiopia region.
According to a BBC Amharic report, Salaries are delayed for months and paid employees are getting paid in installments with up to 40 percent withheld amount. Sixteen districts and six city administrations are impacted by the situation.
The source indicated that there are 64,000 public servants in the affected parts of Wolaita zone.
Employees told BBC Amharic that it has been a recurring problem since 2020 but worsening since last year.
The source cited a public servant within the zone’s Job creation and enterprise development office who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the practice in connection with salary payment in Wolaita is making employees vulnerable to anxiety.
When paid employees are said to be getting only up to 60 and 70 percent of salaries. The situation, coupled with soaring cost of living, has caused more burden on public servants to cater for their families.
The delay in salary payment has also caused a situation whereby public servants had to live on payday loans.
What is causing the delay? BBC Amharic cited public servants in the Wolaita zone as saying spending on fertilizer, allowances and gas has caused the shortage of cash.
However, the chronic government budgetary crisis has been reflected in other areas too. Earlier this week, other sources reported that universities were completed to make changes to the food menu they cater to students due to budgetary issues. Wolaita University, for instance, made an announcement to students that it has been facing budget shortage and that it can no longer serve students the same menu they used to get in their cafeteria.
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Injustice delayed is justice denied. Pay the workers what they deserve!
Every worker deserves to be paid. Stop the cycle of corruption and injustice!
Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. (James 5:4)
To the beautiful people of Wolaita and all other nations and nationalities, justice and peace should be served. No more prosperity parties; deport Abiy Ahmed to the USA!
–The ICC must issue arrest warrants for Abiy Ahmed, a serial genocider–
የበሻሻው ቆሻሻ መወገድ አለበት!
I remember what one of my countrymen told me stories from his employment years during the reign of the late emperor in the 1960’s. He was assigned to work in one of those remote locations, how he managed to get there and how long the journey took him. He was prepaid a one month salary before he began his journey and spent most of it on necessities. Then he did not receive any of his salary for the next three months. The good news was that the natives knew about such delays and did every thing they could to help like providing him with food items. It was a shocking moment for that city slicker. There were no ATM’s or wireless payments like we have now. Salaries were paid in cash and there was only one government employee that was delegated to dispense the salaries for the entire very large district. Mind you just one unarmed person carrying a huge amount of cash in visible large bag traveling alone in rural area and everyone knew him a salary man. Just picture that. He told me that when the payer arrived all he gave him was a two-month salary. He did not receive any more salary for the next 6 months with the reason being the beginning of the rainy season. When he told me that I thought I was watching some kind of a movie. But all that worked fine for him because when he went to the district office after the rainy season a big chunk of money was waiting for him. His story was also a testament about the status of security in that country then. There were no bigots rampaging there like these days. After working there for two years he found another job in the capital with a big chunk of money in his pocket. I was pressing him to put his experience in a book but that wasn’t to happen after he passed on to be with The Lord.