The labor reforms to be undertaken soon explained

As the Ministry of labor is soon to reform job positions, journalists and politicians gathered in the studios of Isango star debated about why these changes are to take place while labor  related policies set up in 2007 are planned for more jobs and improve the existing ones.

All of these claims have created confusion and fear among people about whether they will be fired or remain in their respective working places.

During the past March government retreat, officials have debated about the restructuring policies in public sector and its affiliated bodies.

The invited guests included: The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of labor Mulindwa Samuel, Ntagungira Alex in charge of personnel in the Ministry of labor, Legal adviser Cyamuresi Bernard, and journalist Peter Muyombano.

PS Murindwa said the upcoming   reforms will not much focus on firing the existing workers rather it will emphasize on the upgrading the existing profiles of the workers and up them in working positions that befit their abilities.

These policies aim at removing some responsibilities shared by different departments and set few workers who can fulfill the same tasks with an increased wage and responsibilities, PS Murindwa said.

He said that a preliminary assessment has been conducted by Singaporean experts , which assessment has shown that different departments in different public institutions assume similar responsibilities.

The purpose of the reform is to improve service delivery and reduce unnecessary use of financial and human resources in public sector.

PS Murindwa said that another aim of the reform was to let ease the decentralization of service delivery in public sectors.

Some of the workers in  the senior ministerial positions have been shifted to other positions that are close to citizens so that the later ones might receive quality services, PS Murindwa said.

The ones shifted from the Ministries were placed in public administration institutions that basically deal with policy implementation.

Asked about whether none will loose the job, PS said that the most significant issue is to fulfill the required qualifications for the job positions.

The ones who fulfill such qualifications will befit in the positions while the ones without the required conditions will loose the jobs. He however affirmed that the number of the workers who will loose their jobs is significantly small.

The increased wages were provided for the senior policymakers whose responsibilities have been increased too, PS Murindwa said.

One of the most debated issues was the fact that still some of the foreign workers are still identified in public sector work places while Rwandans can fulfill the same responsibility.

To this, the PS Murindwa responded that this reality will change as the Rwandans will be upgrading their experiences in such areas.

Peter Muyombano said that the locals raised their concerns about the fact that these reforms will increase the unemployment rate as more workers will loose their former jobs.

One of the show presenters asked whether the soon-to-be fired workers have been psychologically prepared as not to create psychological heartbreaks among the victims of the reform.

Ntagungira responded that  employers will explain to the workers the reasons of this reform and workers will receive compassion  for the service provided in the  previous years.

Among the questions raised by listeners included whether the more technological tools will be made available to replace the ones who will no longer be working .

Another one asked whether the number of teachers will also be reduced, but the PS Murindwa said that all teachers will remain in their respective places and their number will be increased in five coming years.

PS Murindwa warned the media about publishing articles before fetching adequate information from the concerned bodies.

Peter Muyombano condemned his fellow ones who misrepresented the news before having the official version but that the media have covered the issue according to the available data at the time.

At the international level, the participants briefly discussed about the recent construction of the Solomon temple in Brazil as the former one has been demolished by different invasions in Israel.

The new one built in Jerusalem will attract more tourists as the remains in Jerusalem cannot be innovated due to the incessant  Arabo-Israeli conflicts in the Middle-East.

UM– USEKE.RW