GOVERNMENT workers in the Central African Republic had a pleasant surprise when their salaries were paid and they were even granted a 10% wage increase. The government of President Ange-Felix Patasse has given civil servants their wages for January – of last year. Moreover, the pay rises granted people in positions of “high state responsibility”, from service chiefs in ministries to the prime minister, almost double their salaries. Public sector workers in the landlocked central African country went on strike on November 2 last year to try to force the government to pay at least 12 months of wage arrears accumulated over the years. – AFP