President of the Chiefs’ Council, Fortune Charumbira, a vocal chief in Masvingo, announced the hike during an assembly of chiefs there this week. He said the non-taxable allowances for the chiefs would rise from US$100 to $200 and this would be backdated to April 1. “With these recent increases, we are much better off,” Charumbira said. “We now earn US$30 less than Members of Parliament and a lot more than many civil servants. President Mugabe has approved the increment and were it not for his Excellency and (Local Government) Minister Ignatius Chombo’s respect and recognition of the role chiefs play as traditional leaders in our community, this recommendation would have been thrown out,” said Charumbira said. Some civil servants were not keen to see chiefs given “reasonable allowances as they felt it was degrading to earn less than a chief, he added.
Mugabes latest vote-catching gimmick is likely to be frowned on by civil servants, who downed tools for a month in February demanding a salary raise to US$630 from the current $160. Their demands were rejected by government, which instead offered a paltry US$15 bonus. The strike was eventually called off after it was hijacked by Zanu (PF) apologists.
After periodically awarding chiefs allowances, installing electricity in their homes, pampering them with the latest all-terrain government vehicles, the chiefs have become reluctant to question the status quo, becoming active participants in Zanu (PF)’s plan to win the hearts and minds of the rural people. Grateful fur Mugabes generosity, chiefs have also helped in making rural areas no go areas for Zanu (PF)’s political opposition. The rural areas have become places for political purges and retribution, flashpoints for those considered not loyal to the revolution.
Post published in: News