When former Kigoma North lawmaker Zitto Kabwe revealed the salaries of the former president, prime minister and other Tanzanian politicians, people were surprised, knowing that it was against the law to disclose the salaries of government officials. Although this is an old law, citizens needed to know how their taxes would be distributed and so they demanded that the old law be thrown in the trash.
Following Zitto’s revelations, former Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda had come out to deny the claims, claiming the amount revealed by the former lawmaker was completely false. Even so, many still felt that the former president’s takeaway pay wasn’t far off Zitto’s claims.
Below is the salary scale of the former President of Tanzania and other leading politicians in Tanzania, as revealed by Mr. Pinda and Mr. Zitto Kabwe.
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Based on Zitto’s revelation, the salary of the former President of Tanzania (Jakaya Kikwete) is more than 30 million shillings (US$18,750) per month, which is equivalent to US$237,500 per year in 2013.
Mr Pinda gave a contrary opinion but insisted his gross salary was 6 million shillings each month, including his wife’s allowance, Mama Tunu Pinda. He said the difference between his salary and that of former Vice President Dr. Mohamed Gharib Bilal, is close to 1 million shillings, but declined to comment on whether or not the lawmaker’s salary disclosed by Zitto was true.
Considering the following analysis, you might now see that Tanzania’s MPs are among the best paid in the world. While others may wish they earned these Tanzanian politicians’ salaries, others might call them greedy hunks.
Based on another report, one MP in Tanzania per month (30 days to be exact) did the following:
Base Salary sh.6,000,000
Entertainment Allowance
sh.1,000,000 Household Allowance sh.1,250,000 Car Maintenance Allowance
sh.3,000,000 Gym Membership sh.60,000 Fixed Auto Expenses
Allowance
. Sh.3,000,000
Committee Attendance Allowance sh.100,000
Constituency Allowance sh.900,000
A total of 16 million shillings, equal to US$14,118.
According to another report, the former president takes a salary of
TSh 84 million (USD 52,500) annually.
While Gharib earned 7 million TSH (US$4,375) monthly.
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At the beginning of his term in 2015, the new Tanzanian President, John Pombe Magufuli, announced that he had a monthly salary of Tsh 9 million (USD 4,008).
His statement came in 2017 after an opposition MP dared to declare his salary, arguing the president should pay taxes.
In addition to announcing his salary, Magufuli also said he would reduce executive salaries in state-owned companies by 15 million Tanzanian shillings ($6,700) a month – more than his own.
Mr. President, who doesn’t know this? Sources of Income also said in 2016 that its administration plans to introduce a bill that would bar leaders from doing business to avoid conflicts of interest.
His monthly salary is about a quarter of what his predecessor, Jakaya Kikwete, earned if the above figures, which Zitto announced three years ago, are accurate.
Haven said so, but it’s good to note that Magufuli’s monthly take-home salary is peanut compared to what other African presidents earn.
South African President Jacob Zuma earns around $20,000 a month after his salary was increased by Parliament in 2015.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari took a 50 percent pay cut when he took office in May 2015. Before that, the annual presidential salary was about 14.1 million naira, equivalent to US$70,000.
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Whatever the case, Tanzanian politicians really do make a lot of money from taxpayers, so you could join the crowd of politicians if you are looking for the best job in Tanzania. Whether or not they are worth the money they make is beyond our control, but we know they make a lot of money from the Tanzanian taxpayers.
Some are of the opinion that Tanzania is a country that doesn’t need to spend that much on its incumbents as it is still working towards becoming a developed country. Therefore, it may become necessary soon enough to appropriately reduce the revenues of Tanzanian politicians.