Civil servants to repay salaries for non-compliance with electoral law

20 January, 2025

By: Envaalde Matheus

Civil servants elected to parliament but still holding onto their government jobs will now be required to repay the salaries they earned since December.

Secretary to Cabinet, George Simaata, has instructed all executive directors and chief regional officers to enforce compliance with the Amendment Electoral Act of 2024. Simaata said all salaries earned by these individuals since December must be refunded.

“The law is very clear that as soon as the official results are announced the person should resign or is deemed to have resigned. However, we discovered that there were still a few people that were dragging their feet in government offices. It is for that reason that we send that Secretary to remind them that they should have resigned already at the time when the election results were announced.

Those that have found themselves coming to the office up to January but should have resigned in November at the time of the election results, unfortunately will have to pay back the money that was paid to them,” said Simaata.

Labour expert Herbert Jauch said the ongoing court challenge of the election results creates a dilemma.

The people who currently have jobs and who are then meant to resign before taking up their work as MPs need to also be assured that they really will start the new paid work in March this year. This is the current dilemma in which we are. The matter needs to be of course handled strictly in line with the Constitution and the applicable laws but there is a sense of urgency that the courts clarify that matter as soon as possible,” said Jauch.

The Amendment Electoral Act of 2024 stipulates that civil servants elected to the National Assembly are deemed to have resigned from their government positions as soon as the election results are announced.