Rwanda Lays Off Hundreds to Save Millions of Dollars, Reports KT Press

KIGALI, Rwanda, Oct. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Rwanda is cutting down the number of civil servants to save more than $5 million of taxpayers' money. Those gotten rid off include deputies, such as deputy director generals and employees contracted on a short-term basis. About 500 employees from 62 institutions will lose their jobs.

A deputy director general, for example, has been earning a gross salary of Rwf 1 million (about $1,500) to Rwf 1.7 million (about $2,500).  The government said scarping off such jobs would reduce spending on salaries and increase productivity.

According to the Minister of Public Service and Labour, Judith Uwizeye, the restructuring will ensure efficiency, effectiveness and accountability.

The reform is also expected to improve productivity by erasing duplicated jobs. She said 351 employees from 55 government institutions are already gone, but 438 new vacancies will be created, with reasonable remuneration. More than 190 employees have already been hired. Rwanda employs about 94,000 civil servants.

The reform came as a result of a public institution performance audit released earlier this year that indicated some embarrassing inefficiencies.

For example, a tender process would take weeks and months because of a long list of procedures.

The report, carried out by a Singaporean consultancy firm, Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE), said a chain of dignitaries whose job description was almost the same, created a bureaucratic loop. The government said the reform would help create a better and more effective institutional structure.

The new structure will allow districts to give jobs to some of the laid off employees with valuable skills. The remaining laid-off employees have received a compensation package worth their monthly salary.

This is the second time Rwanda is carrying out a massive public layoff. In 2005 more than 5,000 civil servants were laid off. Frank Namara, a lecturer of management at the Business College of the University of Rwanda, says the move will improve productivity and skills.

He said the reform would give people the chance to perfect what they do and earn what they deserve. "It will streamline responsibility and erase delegation...making people accountable."

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SOURCE KT Press