via Mugabe savages rogue Chinamasa – New Zimbabwe 17/04/2015
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe suggested Saturday that there was a parallel government in his administration as he publicly attacked his finance minister, accusing him of making decisions without consulting the presidency and cabinet.
Addressing thousands of Zimbabweans gathered at the National Sports Stadium in Harare Saturday for the Independence Day celebrations, Mugabe embarrassed his finance minister by publicly reversing the scrapping of bonuses for civil servants recently announced by Chinamasa.
The Zanu PF-administration is struggling to pay salaries for its estimated 500,000 workers with the government wage bill said to be nearly 90 percent of its revenues.
Chinamasa was not at the stadium to suffer his public rebuke. He is understood to be in the United States for the annual World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring meetings.
In his 35-minute speech, Mugabe thanked civil servants for their continued service to his government despite the current economic hardships and proceeded to claim he only heard of the scrapping of their bonuses through the press.
“l want to make it clear that the report which was in the newspaper that bonuses that were being withdrawn is not government policy. The cabinet did not approve that at all,” said Mugabe.
He added: “We say that is disgusting to us and it will never, never be implemented at all. So your bonuses will come to you.”
Govt has no money
Chinamasa, accompanied by information minister Jonathan Moyo, told reporters last Monday that he was suspending bonus payments for civil servants until 2017 saying the cash-strapped government could not afford the annual gratuity.
“We are paying people to sit in their offices (but) we will not pay because there is no capacity to do so,” said the minister.
“It is paradoxical that government continues to pay bonuses when our paymasters the creators of wealth, industry are actually failing to pay salaries and wages.”
Business leaders and economic commentators welcomed the decision with analyst Luxon Zembe saying, “It does not make economic sense for an institution not performing well to pay bonuses.”
But unions representing the civil servants were outraged and told Chinamasa that he had effectively declared war between the government and its workers.
“To us this is nothing but an open attack and a declaration of war against the workers of Zimbabwe. We must join forces and say NO!! Government must look for money even if they are to borrow it from Satan, we don’t care,” said trade unionist Raymond Majongwe.
And on Saturday, clearly concerned the decision could fuel unrest among citizens struggling to survive in a failing economy, Mugabe overruled his finance minister.
The veteran leader said the civil servants would get their bonuses without revealing where the money would come from.
Parallel government?
However, in remarks quite revealing about the way his administration is operating, Mugabe claimed that Chinamasa never consulted either the presidency or the cabinet before announcing the suspension of the bonuses.
“The presidency was never, never consulted on the matter; we were never consulted – the three of us, that is myself and the vice presidents,” said Mugabe.
“We say that is disgusting to us and it will never, never be implemented at all. So, let the civil servants not be downhearted. That will not happen.”
When he announced the decision, Chinamasa said, “The issue of bonuses must never be an entitlement.”
Wrong, said Mugabe Saturday as he vowed that his government would never take away any privileges it extended to its workforce, let alone their thirteenth cheque.
“The rules are that when the government bestows a benefit on civil servants that benefit cannot be withdrawn because it has become a right,” said the veteran leader.
“That is there in our rules governing the handling of public servants. When they are given a benefit, we cannot reverse it at all. It has become their right and that is what we stand by; so your bonuses will come to you.”
Thrust at the deep end of the government’s empty treasury soon after the Zanu PF victory 2013, Chinamasa is under pressure to find solutions for a fast shrinking economy characterised by a slackening tax base fuelled by massive company closures and an informalised economy.
Acting on the advice of international lenders such as the IMF, he has vowed to cull an obese civil service but, on the evidence of Saturday, he will face stiff resistance from his Zanu PF party.
COMMENTS
Kkkkkk. Inonzi chaotic governance (or governing by chaos). Mazvake, mazvake – it serves to certify a long held view that Zim government is on auto-pilot – no one is in-charge. Mudhara ari kungorova ngonono sikunesikati – anytime is sleeping & dreaming time for the old man. Nokudaro, minister woga woga wongoita zvaaronga ari kumba kwake nemukadzi wake. Ipapa mudhara katoita zvokuto mutsiwa nevamwe ndokuvudziwa zvanga zvapigwa kuruzhinji gwenyika naChinamasa iye avete. Akomanaaaa!
Would someone kindly euthanize this geriatric fool? Patsy is no saint, but The Bhobho is mad
There is plenty of money to pay bonuses if only Zimra would tax all the private businesses which civil servants are running from their government offices.
This shows just how economically illiterate the President is. Although he has a degree in economics, he somehow thinks that money grows on trees.
During the time that we had a Zimbabwe dollar, his economic illiteracy lead endless printing of the Zimdolla and to the second highest rate of hyperinflation in all recorded history, and now we no longer have a Zimbabwe dollar.
We now have the US dollar. Still Mr President thinks that money grows on trees, and he continues to spend just as much as he wants. Trips all over the world with huge entourages all on massive daily subsistence allowances; payments and perks like new cars to oil his patronage system; and now bonuses to curry favour with civil servants.
Since we do not have the US dollar printing press right here in state house, this economic illiteracy and profligate spending leads to a chronic shortage of US dollars in our economy and hence to the crippling deflation that we are now experiencing.
A further problem is that Mr Mugabe has come to believe that he is all wise and infallible, prompted by a never ending stream of boot-lickers who want a piece of pie. And so he does not ever (never ever!) reverse his ruinous policies, but only looks for someone else to blame for the state of affairs.
Mr Chinamasa is stuck between a presidential demand that the patronage system be well oiled with cash and a presidential demand that the economy thrive and a presidential requirement that everyone obey him but no blame be attached to him when things go wrong. Sorry for that Mr Chinamasa.
The bonuses will be paid Yes but is Zim dollars.
The wage bill takes up over 80% of the national budget not because civil servants are earning too much, but simply because the national budget is too small. Don’t be blinkered when making your comments. Chinamasa’s job is to find the money to increase budget allocations to other productive or development sectors as a way of reducing the overall percentage contribution that salaries have on the budget. It is on record that there are ghost workers that were unearthed by previous audits, so why does he not start by looking at those specific ministries like defense and youth where these ghost workers are stuffed? He wants to reduce the income of an already impoverished civil service instead.
I we Majongwe lndava kuda kuchekeresa vanhu Iwe? gvt ikwerete mari Luna Satan? lgo