via Govt must reduce wage bill – DailyNews Live 16 September 2014
HARARE – The recent introduction of various taxes by the government at a time life is becoming increasingly tougher for the average man will not help revive the ailing economy.
President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF-led government must slash its bloated cabinet, reduce capital expenditure and cut on the civil servants wage bill.
There is no way the country will grow its economy when more than 70 percent of all revenue is going towards government’s wage bill.
In line with these revelations, it is important for government to improve its human resource management system by carrying out a proper audit to help clean up the payroll system to remove workers who have left public service through resignations or natural attrition.
The public wage bill could be reduced even further by the elimination of duplication of roles within the public service.
Fiscal discipline is necessary for us to manage our resources effectively and efficiently. For us to succeed on this, government must not confine itself to the easy options but instead pursue far reaching and deep reforms that are well thought out.
Therefore, while it is true that the current public wage bill is unsustainable, if the government is committed to reducing the ever rising recurrent expenditure, it must take a much broader approach and check all excesses which have greater impact.
One of the major issues that need to be addressed to contain the recurrent expenditure is travel costs of government officials.
As the high-ranking officials rake in millions in per diem allowances and incur high costs travelling abroad with their large entourages, the middle level officials go to numerous local retreats that also cost the taxpayer millions in per diem allowances as well as accommodation and travel costs.
Government should encourage the use of information and communication technology to help cut the need for these expenses.
Another area of concern is the cost of government transport. The government owns far too many vehicles and spends too much money on the maintenance and running costs of its fleet of vehicles.
Reforming our public procurement system would also greatly help reduce the loss of public resources.
As it is now, our public procurement system is poorly designed, costly and badly managed, making it prone to abuse.
Public procurement is the foundation of the corruption that government is often accused of.
More needs to be done to ensure that every bidder has a fair chance of accessing procurement opportunities without hindrance from rent-seeking operatives and cartels.
COMMENTS
Tax the poor to support the gravy train. Huge ineffective cabinet more than that of developed countries. Now u are overtaxing to support an extravagant lifestyle.
Reasoning with ZANU is pointless. Many have tried.
Correct John Thomas .
The imf-world bank said this 23 years ago. But mugarbage knows better….the senile fart has several degrees and zpf is full of uneducated PhD MA MBA
WHERE WILL ALL THOSE MASHONAS GO!
Blaming the Shona for Mugabe’s sins is most unfair. We have become accustomed to those few among Ndebeles who paint the entire Shona nation with Mugabe’s ZANU(PF). It is a futile exercise. Whether you like it or not, those Shona are the majority in Zimbabwe. When ZANU(PF finally disappears, the Shona will still be there and dominant still. You hatred of the Shona is your own problem. The sooner you accept this reality the better
Yes! We must never paint with a broad brush and it is easy to do. I know a young man who inferred to me that ZPF have brainwashed them to believe that all whites are bad. this is the legacy of ZPF. Hatred and bitterness against their own Zimbabwean brothers and sisters
Nhai NBS, since when did you suddenly discover that the white people are ZPF’s own brothers and sisters? What proof do you have? Kuda varungu kunge teaboy Indava so?
dog eat dog time, all those Zanu civil servants who got their jobs because of nepotism are going to have to vote for someone else now !!
A much interesting article, but I beg to differ. With rampant unemployment and an election manifesto that declared to reverse the situation, our government cannot afford to cut jobs when they actually promised more. Our economic policies and actions have to bear political meaning in terms of the promises made during last year’s elections. Yes cutting jobs would be most prudent, but how far will it get the government to save money. I think the government needs to focus on more investor friendly policies to boost our FDI inflows, boost liquidity in the country and then focus on expansionary fiscal policies, the indigenisation policy needs to be reviewed or repealed.
When you keep quiet…..they think you like it! Just like Mbeki’s quiet diplomacy. Zimbabweans do no make any noise and the government just thinks all is well. As we speak they are thinking of introducing more measures. This is because as Zimbabweans we think this might end soon. What I think is that we should never allow any such nonsensical things to happen in the first place. By so doing we are being irresponsible to the future generations. THIS DOCILITY IS A CAPITAL CRIME AGAINST coming generations!!!!!!!!!!
A thoughtful, well-written piece but how could you leave out the issue of ghost workers?
Very good article written sweet and to the point ,however no ways are ZANU PF going to take advise ,they have been in power for so long ,rigging every election.If they did the above this would be an excellent start.But we know they won’t.Happy with all the tax increases because this again makes no sense in a country with no money or liquidity.Sounds to me there has been no thought in this at all!Poor Zimbabwe tighten your belts!