The Tanzanian government has set aside TZS10 billion shillings (USD4.2 million) to pay outstanding social security fund contributions of Air Tanzania (TC, Dar es Salaam) employees, according to Deputy Minister for Works and Transport Atupele Mwakibete.
He told a Parliamentary sitting in Dodoma on February 6 the debt comprised unremitted National Social Security Fund (NSSF) contributions, which would be paid this financial year. He said a mechanism had been put in place to prevent future debts, reported The Citizen newspaper.
Meanwhile, Tanzania’s National Institute of Transport (NIT) pilot training academy received a 9.5% increase in state aid from TZS35.66 billion (USD15.2 million) in the FY 2021/2022 to TZS39.05 billion (USD16.7 million) in the FY 2022/2023, according to the 2022/2023 annual report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Infrastructure.
In addition, in FY 2021/2022, NIT was allocated TZS9.53 billion (USD4 million) for purchasing two Cessna (single piston) Skyhawks from Textron Aviation (Wichita Cessna Aircraft Field) for pilot training, the report disclosed. In October 2022, the NIT announced the government had purchased the two aircraft for USD1.057 million.
The institute's rector, Zacharia Mganilwa, said they would eventually be replaced with two twin-piston aircraft. The aim of the government-subsidised pilot training programme is to enable Tanzanians to enter the airline industry. "Right now, we have 400 planes registered with the Tanzanian Civil Aviation Authority where 60% of the pilots are foreigners," he said.
