HARARE Zimbabwes Cabinet has set up two ministerial committees to address the plight of the countrys poorly paid civil servants, a top government official said last week. Gorden Moyo, the Minister of State in Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirais office, last Wednesday told delegates to the 29th annual conference of the Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) that Cabinet has come up with a Resource Mobilisation Committee (RMC) and a Cost Drivers Committee (CDC). Moyo disclosed that the government was looking at taping into the countrys mineral resources, such as diamonds in Chiadzwa field that are also known as Marange to meet some of the demands of the civil servants.
He said Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe had been tasked to find out how the revenue generated from the mining activities in Chiadzwa could be utilised to fund civil servants salaries.
Deputy Prime Minister Khupe is in Chiadzwa today on a fact-finding mission, said Moyo, adding that this was part of the mandate of the RMC. He said the CDC would look at how the government could force state entities to reduce utilities bills. All this is being done to cushion civil servants, he added.
The countrys civil servants, including teachers presently earn an average US170 monthly salary. In February the government employees downed tools demanding that the cash-strapped government increase their monthly salary to at least US$600 for the lowest paid worker. The industrial action, however, fizzled out after indications the government was technically broke.
Post published in: News