Government establishes social dialogue with civil servants

Ministers of Home Affairs, Public work and Finance have met the leaders of Burundi employees’ unions to talk about the contribution process to 2020 elections. Tharcisse Gahungu, Chairman of the Confederation of Burundi Employees’ unions (COSYBU) says they have raised their concerns related to the procedures used to collect the 2020 electoral contribution. “There is a huge difference on how employees will contribute,” he says.

Tharcisse Gahungu: “Dialogue is the beginning and we expect to reach tangible results”

A civil servant who is paid BIF 200,000 will contribute BIF 2000 per month while the one receiving a salary of more than BIF 200,000 will contribute BIF 5000 per month. The one who is paid BIF 500,000 will contribute 5000 per month and the one who receives over 500,000 will contribute 30,000 per month.

A civil servant who is monthly paid more than BIF 1,000,000 will give a monthly salary for the 2020 election per year.

“Civil servants wish to contribute to the elections but the government must eliminate all these disparities,” says Gahungu. He also says their children are called to contribute while they do not work. “We expect that the social dialogue that has been established today will shed light on all these misunderstandings,” he says.

Tharcisse Gahungu says there are two ministerial ordinances stating that the contribution will be removed from either net salary or base salary. “We need to know from which salary the contribution will be removed,” he says. Gahungu says the social dialogue is the beginning and expects that the result will be consensual and fair.

Pascal Barandagiye, Minister of Home Affairs, says the contributions that will be withdrawn from the employees’ salaries will not have any negative impact on their lives.

Barandagiye says civil servants will contribute separately as they are not in the same category.

“There isn’t any huge difference. Civil servants should not worry as this case has seriously studied before the call for the contribution,” he says. He, however, says the one who will not be able to contribute will give the reasons why they cannot do so. “The importance is to understand the gesture to contribute to 2020 elections”, he says.