•SIMUCHILE

By JUDITH NAMUTOWE –

THE Tanzanian Government will in the next two weeks release TSh6 billion (about $2.75 million) as part of recapitalisation of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA).
Part of the money would be used to clear outstanding salary arrears while the rest of the funds would specifically be used to purchase fuel, maintenance of the track, repair of Kongolo quarry as well as, locomotives and coaches.
Tanzanian Permanent Secretary of Transport, Shaaban Mwinjaka, said this when he accompanied the Chief Secretary of  Tanzania to a meeting,  who addressed over 300 workers in Dar es Salaam at
the weekend.
Dr Mwinjaka said the Chief Secretary’s address came in the wake of demands by unionised employees of TAZARA to be addressed by the Tanzanian President,  Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, following failure by the authority to clear outstanding salary arrears.
This is contained in a statement released by TAZARA head of Public relations Conrad Simuchile and made available to the Times in Lusaka yesterday.
He said the government had also confirmed that all employees of the authority were now effectively on the civil service payroll, as from September 2015.
Addressing the workers, Chief Secretary Ombeni Sefuwe , told the workers that, the two governments attached great importance to TAZARA and would never allow the company to collapse.
“TAZARA is a symbol of true friendship and cooperation amongst the countries of China, Tanzania and Zambia and it has a critical role to play in the economies of Tanzania and Zambia. For that reason, we will never allow it to fold up,” he said.
The chief sectary told the workers that, despite the many challenges that the Authority was currently facing, the two governments were committed and determined to make sure that these challenges were addressed permanently.
Dr Mwinjaka, who is the co-chairperson of the TAZARA board of directors, echoed the chief secretary’s pronouncement that the Government of Tanzania was committed to revamping TAZARA.
He said apart from ensuring that the workers of TAZARA were now included on the government payroll, in the interim as the challenges of TAZARA were being addressed, the government had also agreed to release TSh6 billion  as part of recapitalisation.