Civil Servants Finally Receive Part Of Allowances For Participating In 2023 Voter Registration Exercise

Civil servants who took part in the mop-up national mobile registration exercise in 2023, ahead of the harmonised elections held in August that year, are set to receive part of their allowances, two years later, after Treasury released US$3 million towards settling the outstanding payments.

In a statement issued on April 30, 2025, the Civil Registry Department said the latest disbursement from Treasury brings them closer to clearing the arrears owed to those who were hired for the exercise.

The Department added that a balance of US$3.7 million remains outstanding and that they are working closely with Treasury to ensure the remaining amount is settled as soon as possible. Reads the statement:

The Civil Registry Department wishes to provide an update regarding the mop-up national mobile registration exercise conducted in 2023.

Members who participated in this initiative were entitled to allowances and they were partially paid. The Department is pleased to announce that Government, through Treasury has however, released a total of USD3 million towards settlement of the outstanding allowances. This brings us closer to settling the outstanding amounts owed to members.

However, there remains an outstanding amount of USD3,7 million and we are working closely with Treasury to ensure that the remaining amount is settled as soon as possible.

The Department would like to take this opportunity to extend its sincere appreciation to members who participated in the mobile registration exercise for their hard work, dedication and continued patience as we work towards addressing this matter. We will continue to provide updates on the progress of these payments.

Commenting on the development, journalist Ranga Mberi remarked that when it comes to payments, the government seems to operate with two columns.

He suggested that the first column consists of those who are paid millions—promptly, in full, and often without even doing the work—just so they can post about it on Instagram, while the second column includes those who actually do the work, such as civil servants or grain farmers, but are paid only a fraction of what they’re owed, and years after the fact.

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