HARARE- A battered commuter omnibus, crammed with passengers, puffs out a thick cloud of white smoke along a freeway linking Harare city centre and Machipisa high density suburb. Its tyres now look as slippery as wet soap while the body, patched with metal ware of different colours, also leans precariously on its left side. The aged vehicle struggles to a stop on the signal of a traffic police officer manning a road-block along the busy road.
After some effort, the driver, hardly 20 years of age, finally forces its tormented engine to a sudden halt.
He jumps off and heads to a stout police officer standing under a tree next to the road and hands him an envelope. The hefty police officer takes the envelope and let the driver go free.
Suddenly, the incident dominates the talk among the passengers, who risk their lives by riding in broken down commuter buses. The passengers are now familiar with the law-breaking commuter drivers and how they bribe their way to freedom.
Mari yako chete ndiyo inotaura, (Your money can buy you out of anything), boasted the commuter omnibus driver as he joined the excited talk.
Acts of bribery have now become normal everyday life particularly among Zimbabwes poorly paid civil servants. Most civil servants earn between US$ 165 and 250.
Recently, a Chikurubi prison officer was arrested after attempting to assist a group of dangerous criminals to escape from prison on the promise of huge monetary returns.
It emerged later the young officer had also connived with one of his bosses to commit the act.
This is going to be our way of life for as long as government continues to ignore our pleas for a salary increase, said one officer who works for the Vehicle Inspection Depot in Harare.
It is apparent that the government does not worry about our welfare. There is no way you can survive on such little salary in a country with a US$502 poverty datum line. You just have to find means to survive.
Tendai Chikowore, chairperson of the APEX Council, the main negotiating arm for government workers in Zimbabwe, told agitated civil servants at a recent rally that they were being betrayed by their colleagues working for money spinning departments like the passport office.
Unlike in 2008 where almost everyone could sell something and even trade in scarce foreign currency in order to survive, the situation was different now.
The country now used foreign currency and the products which were previously scarce were now found in the shops.
In the past, corruption was seen as abhorrent and was mostly practiced by greedy people. However, nowadays, most men and women who shunned the practice, had now mastered the art, and had joined the bandwagon.
The culture of demanding bribes in Zimbabwe has become so deeply rooted that it would take generations to root it out, said Fikile Moyo, a Harare resident. It has taken 10 years to get into the people. They have tasted its fruits.
Asked if government had ever tried to find out on how civil servants survived, Public Service Minister Eliphas Mukonoweshuro said: These are administrative issues that I do not deal with. Why dont you ask the ministrys permanent secretary? Finance Minister Tendai Biti said the government was struggling to pay the huge salary bill. Even donors had said the bill was too high.
Post published in: News