Zambia-Tanzania Railway workers to get performance contracts to improve efficiency

Workers at a railway firm jointly owned by the governments of Zambia and Tanzania will now be given performance contracts as one way to improve efficiency at the troubled railway firm, the Times of Zambia reported on Tuesday. The Tanzania, Zambia Railway (TAZARA), built in the 1979s with the financial assistance of the Chinese government has been facing operational challenges. Leaders of the two countries committed themselves to ensure that the company improves its operations such as delayed payment of salaries and low profitability. Zambia's Minister of Transport, Works, Supply and Communication Yamfwa Mukanga said introducing performance contracts for both management and the general workforce would increase efficiency in the operations of the company. "Under the smart partnership, the managing director comes from Zambia while the deputy is from Tanzania, so what we want is to introduce performance contracts which would be renewed based on specific targets in given periods," he was quoted as saying by the paper. The Zambian minister said the two governments could not afford to lose the railway firm looking at the economic benefits hence the need to put in place measures to revamp operations is urgent. Ministers of the two countries will soon meet to chart a way forward on the need to recapitalize the company, he added. The performance of the company has dwindled over the years from a peak of 1.2 million tons of cargo and over one million passengers in 1986-87 to less than 30,000 tons of cargo and around 900,000 passengers in 2011-2012. Endi