opinion
By Samuel Kamndaya
A ghost – spirit/soul of a dead person or animal that appears in visible form to the living – makes an interesting subject in the film industry.
Ghosts have always featured in the tradition and myths of the film industry. Their presence in movies seeks to cement the widely-held belief that the dead live on in another secret world and that they can re-surface – in different ways – when the need arises.
In the film industry, ghosts come with warnings, revenge and future predictions towards people/individuals of a certain cultural background.
In a 1606 play of Macbeth, the playwright clearly portrays the power of ghosts. In the tragic play, William Shakespeare tells the story of a brave Scottish general named Macbeth who receives a prophecy from three witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Yearning for power, Macbeth decides to kill his fellow general in the army, Banquo, after seeing that the latter would be a threat to his ambitions.
Banquo’s ghost, however, comes to haunt Macbeth, forcing him to react with alarm during a public feast.
Nigeria’s Movie Industry (Nollywood), India’s Bollywood and Tanzania’s Bongo Movie all have a lot to show about ghosts.
That is the side of ghosts that will make men and women to laugh while some kids get frightened to the extent that they sleep talk for weeks about what they see in the movies.
Now, let’s put these television pictures aside and think instead of a new meaning that comes when the word “ghost” precedes “worker” to come up with GHOST WORKER.
This has been a hot subject since President John Magufuli came to power late last year. He emphatically vowed to flush out ghost workers from government’s payroll and he has lived up to that promise.
Earlier this month, the minister of State in the President’s Office (Public Service Management and Good Governance), Ms Angela Kairuki, said the government has paid over Sh7.5 billion in taxpayers’ money to nearly 8,000 “ghost workers” in local authorities since January.
Much as this information sends a clear message as to the seriousness of President Magufuli’s fight against phantom workers and other forms of malpractices that end up drying public coffers, it may also be vital to understand that the presence of ghost workers go beyond the public service.
Put in its simplest way, a ghost worker is someone on the payroll of an organisation but who does no actual work.
From a private sector perspective, this definition means that someone can be with you in your office but so long as he/she is not doing what he/she was employed to do–but ends up enjoying his good salary every month–that person is a ghost worker.
Unfortunately, like empty vessels, such ghost workers make the loudest noise against their employers. They will never be satisfied about what they earn, much as they know they don’t contribute anything tangible to their employers’ businesses.
Some ghost workers live by backbiting others. Hear them talk about others and you will get an impression that they are the best performers in their various areas of specialisations. You can even be attempted to poach them if you are a manager in a competing company.
In my view, if someone – employed as a news reporter and his Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is that he should submit at least five usable articles per week – ends up submitting one poorly written page 7-article in seven days, that person is a ghost worker.
Think about an English teacher who teaches the Queen’s language in Kiswahili while he understands quite well that the students will learn nothing tangible from him. Is he not a ghost worker?
Consider a highly paid marketing or advertising executive in the newspaper publisher, who brings no new business to the company, could he be a ghost worker as well?
That being the case, a human resources department boss that doesn’t give you the required number and quality of staff to meet your KPIs, yet he/she expects you to perform with excellence, won’t he/she be a ghost worker?
The sports sector can have its share of ghosts too. If someone, for instance, who is recruited to be part of a soccer team’s striking force but who will not score a single goal until the season ends, for sure, that person is a ghost worker.
The head of a consumer lobby group, who will always remain silent when consumers complain against the quality of the service/product that falls under his KPI, is a ghost worker.
Going by a recent Integrated Labour Survey Report by the National Bureau of Statistics – which revealed, among others, that Tanzanians spend 71 per cent of their productive time on leisure – then chances are that we have many ghost workers in our various work settings who are smashing President Magufuli’s efforts of turning Tanzania into a middle income country in nine years from now.
Mr Samuel Kamndaya Tindwa is The Citizen Business Editor.
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