Zambian president reduces his salary ‘to cushion effect of fuel price hike’

President Edgar Lungu of Zambia has reduced his salary and that of his senior cabinet ministers.

Isaac Chipampe, Lungu’s spokesman, announced this in a statement, saying the decision was taken to reduce to cushion the effect of higher electricity tariff and imminent price hike.

According to the statement, the cut in the president’s salary and those of senior ministers is in the range of 15 to 20 percent.

“The price of petrol gained 10 percent to 17.62 kwacha ($1.27) per litre on Thursday, while that for diesel fuel rose by 9.6 percent to 15.59 kwacha,” it said.

” The cost of electricity is to soar by 115 percent starting January 1.

” The money realised will go into cushioning the impact on the vulnerable in society.

“The money realised from this decision will go towards ameliorating the impact that the increase would have brought on the masses.”

The statement said the Zambian president said he is aware of the suffering of his people as a result of the tariff hikes.

He expressed confidence that the economy would rebound in 2020 as his administration has put some measures in place to achieve that.

He said the measures include reducing the number of trips made by senior government officials.

In September, Italian parliament approved slashing the number of its members by 37 percent to “save cost”.

Liberia house of representatives also voted to slash its monthly earnings by 31 percent and that of the senate by 36 percent.

The house reportedly slashed the lawmakers’ salaries and benefits to accommodate the pay of government workers, realise its projections and avoid recurrence of budget shortfall.