(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Tanzanian President John Magufuli has ordered the immediate dismissal of more than 9,900 civil servants after a nationwide verification of academic credentials uncovered workers with forged school and college certificates.
Elected in October 2015, Magufuli has dismissed several senior officials, including the head of the government's anti-graft body, the tax chief, a senior rail official and head of the port authority as part of a wider anti-corruption drive.
Businesses have long complained that corruption and government inefficiency were major obstacles to investing in Tanzania.
The crackdown on fake degree holders comes after another purge launched in March last year discovered more than 19,700 'ghost workers on the East African nation's public sector payroll.
Magufuli said the audit had also found that the academic records of more than 1,500 civil servants were used by multiple people, while more than 11,500 government employees had incomplete academic records.
A government investigation begun last October found 9,932 people that it said had faked their secondary school qualifications, a number equivalent to 2% of the country's civil service.
After receiving the final report yesterday, Magufuli said the named workers must resign or face prosecution, which could result in sentences of up to seven years in jail.
'The 9,932 employees recruited on the basis of false diplomas will not receive their salary for this month of April and have to leave their positions immediately, the president said. 'We have been working hard to create new jobs while there are people in government who hold fake degrees.
The government had also been losing 238bn shillings ($107mn) each year to 'ghost workers who had now been removed from the public payroll, he said.
Tanzania spends more than $260mn per month to pay civil servants' salaries.
Magufuli added that the posts would be filled by 'qualified persons as soon as possible.
He ordered officials to 'name and shame wrongdoers by publishing a list of all civil servants with forged academic qualifications.
The government believes that the public wage bill is bloated, with more than 550,000 civil servants at national and local levels.
'These people occupied government positions but had no qualifications ... they robbed us just like other common criminals, he said.
The dismissed civil servants would have to defend themselves in court, the president said.
'They are thieves like any other thieves ... you cannot perform if you don't have deserving qualifications, said Magufuli.
About 3,000 other civil servants have been suspended while their certificates were being verified.
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