via MP hits back at Zimra boss and brands him ‘arrogant’ | SW Radio Africa by Tichaona Sibanda on Tuesday, March 4, 2014
The MDC-T MP for Mbizo in KweKwe, Settlement Chikwinya, has said he’s astounded that the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) boss Gershem Pasi is contemplating a constitutional challenge to stop parliament debating issues like the salary-gate.
Pasi, through his lawyers, has also petitioned the media to stop publishing details of his salary of $310,000 a month. During a parliamentary debate last week Chikwinya raised the concerns of all Zimbabweans at such a large salary.
The disclosure irked Pasi who engaged lawyers to investigate if Chikwinya was abusing his parliamentary privileges to divulge what he described as ‘reckless and wholly unfounded statements.’
Pasi’s lawyers also charged that the reports emanating from the parliamentary debate were not only defamatory, but had also characterised their client as corrupt and amoral. However, the legislator hit back at Pasi suggesting the situation he’s now in is of his own making.
Chikwinya told SW Radio Africa’s weekly program, Speak Out Padare, that it’s up to Pasi to clarify exactly how much he earns..
‘On two occasions Pasi had an opportunity to divulge his earnings to parliamentarians but he declined. Firstly at a workshop organised by Parliament he said he could not tell us because there were subordinates from Zimra in attendance.
‘On the other occasion, during an appearance before a parliamentary portfolio committee, he said he had already sent the salary schedule to the office of the president and cabinet and he felt he had no obligation to talk about it anymore,’ the MP said.
Chikwinya said he was not sure what Pasi and his lawyers are trying to achieve by approaching the Constitutional Court.
‘This matter is very simple because I was very clear in my debate that this is public perception and this is the figure in the public domain. What I’m advocating for is for a parliamentary select committee to find out the truth.
‘So Pasi can short-circuit this whole process by bringing to parliament the exact salary schedule as obtaining in Zimra, supported by bank documents to say since 1980, when I joined Zimra, this is what I’ve earned and as of the last pay date this is what I earned,’ explained the MP.
Commenting on Pasi’s reluctance to talk about his salary, the MP retorted: ‘It’s either it’s too low he’s ashamed of his own salary or its too high he’s ashamed of the same salary. It is up to him to remove the shame and expose it to the public.’
COMMENTS
Why does he not just disclose his salary before he sues? Doctor do little was right. As long as the status quo remains some are beyond the law.
This is what I had to say earlier, this is where it should have been put..
Corruption in Zimbabwe if the authorities are serious(which I have my reservations)in my opinion would have to be dealt with using planned strategies on where to start. The place to start is by those that are supposed to be the guardians of the laws in the country. This would be the Police, the Courts and the Ministry involved.If the authorities are serious the one way to go about it would be to second people that were in the forced and served with distinctive service to be drafted into an independent unit that answer to a parliamentary group made up of MP’s from different parties and other interest groups i.e chosen members of other parties who contested the elections. An Ombudsman type scenario where a person from a foreign country with a law background could assist in an advisory role. The unit would first have to work vigorously to identify the rotten apples in the police and the court system. The way to start is to check peoples standard of living and have them account as to how they manage to sustain lifestyles that do not synchronize with their wages. This is called corruption by design. (misconduct designed to obtain financial gain).
You then have the courts and the police operating normally. You now can have those that are “corrupt by choice” ie greedy politicians with no one to cover for them. When the Police and the Courts are deemed clean those that do so by choice are exposed.
The third group which are the ordinary people who are “corrupt by necessity” i.e paying bribes to the police and carrying out corrupt activities e.g paying bribes to jump queues for passports and other daily necessities will no longer find it easy to carry out these activities and will slowly disappear into normal lives.
All I am saying is that as long as the Police and the courts operate the way they do we are going nowhere.
Reply
this problem will never be solved as long as people reason the way you are doing.
you were somewhat right to point out that the guardians of the laws of the country must act, but its not very correct. the guardian of the laws is the guardian of the supreme law which is the constitution. when they swear in they do pronounce that they would safeguard the supreme law. this is the person who is also responsible for the appointment of the others who guard the laws enshrined in the supreme law. I hope you now understand. appointees will work according to how their master likes. this is why we pointed out right at the beginning that the salarygate issue would not go far.
This piece meal approach to Salarygate has lost direction completely. It cannot be one person at a time. Why can’t the public be given a schedule of salaries for all Parastatal CEO’s. This is taxpayer’s monies in as much as Civil Servants’ salaries are. Tendai Mahachi was mentioned briefly and that was the end of it because of Chombo. Parliament should deal with this matter decisively and not just blame President Mugabe. Mugabe was quoted as saying corrupt people must be arrested so where is the problem now.
Why should an employee sue a mp doing his legal job unless he is trying to hide something?@Doctor do little,you are right,these guys think they are now so big and irreplaceable due to their huge salaries.Our politicians have created monsters which are now beyond control.Fortunately,the national resources are limited,therefore something will have to give in to open the way for sanity in due course.This is about to happen whether or not these looters want it, because its not sustainable.
We have reached the bubble period which happened in Japan in the nineties caused by the corrupt banks there.When this happened most of their bank managers committed suicides because in their culture, failure is a big insult.
I doubt that any of our looters would have guilt conscience and take his/her life for these crimes.
Well said MP Chikwinya, Gershem Pasi must just provide the evidence you stated.
MONEY MAKES HIM ARROGANT!
The likes of these people have overstayed just like the president. They are now retards. Coz you don’t expect these corrupt brains from Scholars.
All corrupt guys are supported by the corrupt government. Thats why they dont respect parliament. thry are ZANU PF donors
Why is he still in his job?
Pasi, you are a public servant and your salary IS my/our business.
Pasi, you delve into everyone else s earnings what is wrong in disclosing yours ? Surely he, and others, don’t just give themselves these salaries, who higher up the food chain authorizes them?
If you work for the government then your boss is the citizen tax payer. This boss needs to not only have an exact account of how much you earn, he must agree to it. If we have to put this into law then we must. When civil servants forget the servant part of their name then they need a serious reminder.
After all ZIMRA staff have been looting from us as evidenced by their excessive personal expenditures.We have seen them developing their houses beyond their normal salaries and they buy expensive cars.Where do they get these extra funds to throw around buying all sorts of items.
Check their lifestyles closely then you will agree with me.In fact its very easy to tell who is looting in our society or not.