It is also sad that some of the union leaders have laid the blame on Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai who promised civil servants better salaries when he took office as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe just more than a year ago. Instead of blaming the Prime Minister, the union officials should have politely asked him why their salaries were still low despite his promise, and I am sure some of the Prime Ministers’ answers would have included the following:
1. The MDC had assumed that all parties to the agreement were honest, and the GPA was to be implemented within two months of forming government.
2. President Mugabe condones corruption by senior Zanu (PF) officials, as evident from his siding with Obert Mpofu who illegally took diamonds from the Reserve Bank which the Supreme Court had ruled had to be kept at the Reserve Bank while the ownership dispute was being resolved
3. President Mugabe spends a lot of money, which could be used towards civil service salaries, on foreign trips, consuming more than the entire budget of a crucial ministry like the Ministry of Health
4. Money that has been paid to ghost workers fraudulently planted onto the civil service payroll by Zanu (PF) for political expediency could have been channelled towards improving civil service
5. Land invasion has killed production, resulting in government loosing potential revenue from agricultural activity
6. The continued deterioration of the rule of law as a result of a partisan leadership of the police force.
7. Zanu (PF) is refusing to have Zimbabwe classified as a Highly Indebted Poor Country, a development which could enable Zimbabwe to access development funds
And signs that the civil service plight will get worse are written all over the wall, what with the Chinese Government, who Mugabe and Zanu (PF) had thought would be an alternative donor, saying it would not give any more assistance to Zimbabwe because Zimbabwe has failed to pay off its debts. And the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe being sued by various suppliers for failing to honour its obligations. And the new hideous Indigenisation policy which is likely to kill production in the same way as the haphazard land grab policy killed agricultural production.
Civil servants must wake up to the reality, and instead of demanding unrealistic salaries, fight the system that has brought the economy to levels where it cannot sustain decent salaries for civil servants and other workers. New Zealand
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