Devil lover Chinamasa bullied to surrender

via Devil lover Chinamasa bullied to surrender – NewZimbabwe 4 October 2015 by Gilbert Nyambabvu

“You send these people home to do what? Farming is not paying; even if they grow maize and take it to GMB, GMB does not pay.

“There aren’t many vacancies at state universities to absorb these guys and, besides, most of them are not ‘doctors’ as now required by the new minister of higher education if they are to teach at universities!

ZIMBABWEANS have observed in wonderment as Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa – probably the only person in government who often talks about the economy while colleagues obsess with succession – has come under lethal attack from cabinet colleagues.

Curiously too, the treasury head has been brutally assailed by both sides of the bitter succession squabble in Zanu PF, inviting the question of whether he is a lone ranger and, if so, whose interests he is serving.

Chinamasa’s polices have been savaged by war veterans minister Chris Mutsvangwa and, more recently, youth minister Patrick Zhuwao – the latter President Robert Mugabe’s nephew no less.

And sweating under the sizzling fire, Chinamasa last week abandoned one of his key strategies to deal with the country’s economic malaise; retrenching half of the country’s 500,000-strong civil service.

“We’re not going to be chasing away or sacking anyone. I don’t know where that is coming from,” Chinamasa told MPs.

The treasury chief spoke after Zhuwao warned that “he (Chinamasa) is going to be the first one to go” if he dared force the retrenchments.

The finance minister’s statement was a huge climb-down from April this year when he said: “We will have to take bold measures in order to reduce the wage bill which is taking no less than 82% of the budget.

“We are paying people to sit in their offices.”

NewZimbabwe.com spoke to an insider to establish how and why Chinamasa appears to have angered his colleagues.

The finance minister, we were told, made the mistake of falling in love – with the devil.

We were reminded of the following January 22, 2015 statement by Chinamasa when he declared: “I have fallen in love with the World Bank and the IMF.”

The new-found love is a dangerous liaison, especially in Zanu PF.

“You will remember that Mugabe famously likened the IMF to the devil in a 2006 interview on state television,” said our source.

Regime change

The view on both sides of the succession debate, our source said, is that Chinamasa, the IMF and their so-called Staff Monitoring Programme (SMP), are the new face of regime change.

“Their prescriptions are similar to ESAP of 1991-95 which brought untold suffering and turmoil to Zimbabweans and was stopped in 1995,” he said.

“Only this time the same animal is clothed in a different coat from that of the late Bernard Chidzero. Call it what you want like ‘Staff Monitored Programme (SMP)’, the fact is that it is ESAP.”

He added: “The G40 and pro-ED (Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa) camps seem to have seen the tricks IMF is now using for alleged regime change namely: No bonus to civil servants; Massive Retrenchments if civil servants (almost 200-250,000) allegedly starting with those that joined in 2009-2015.”

Massive retrenchment of the civil service would represent a mortal attack on both sides of the succession divide.

If Chinamasa targeted the old-timers, he would effectively be sending home veterans of the liberation struggle who hold key positions in various ministries and state institutions like the army, police, CIO, judiciary and parastatals.

Said our source: “You send these people home to do what? Farming is not paying; even if they grow maize and take it to GMB, GMB does not pay.

“There aren’t many vacancies at state universities to absorb these guys and, besides, most of them are not ‘doctors’ as now required by the new minister of higher education if they are to teach at universities!

“You can only entice the older generation to relinquish their positions if you give them take-home packages that are meaningful and not these promissory notes or legislative provisions which anyone in charge tomorrow can change with retrospective application like the recent labour laws.”

10,000 ghost workers

The younger and more recent conscripts to the civil service including the 10,000 ghost workers added by Saviour Kasukuwere when he was youth minister and now being protected by Zhuwao cannot be retrenched either.

“That constituency is also Saviour Kasukuwere’s reservoir for action and support and, most certainly, the majority are beneficiaries of his previous portfolios,” explained our source.

“He (Kasukuwere) needs them now especially as commissar for the ruling Party since 2018 is only two years away. The ruling party is renowned for giving civil servants key political assignment towards and during elections.

“Dismissing that group is also tantamount to alienating the Youth League and G40 who constitute over 60% of Zimbabwe’s population and voters now and in future. You thus don’t want to give these votes to opposition parties.

“So it’s a dilemma of unimaginable proportions.”

With retrenchment thus not an option for these reasons, the factions in Zanu PF wondered why Chinamasa was obsessing about it.

“Now if you can’t retrench either of the groups, the argument is why talk or sing about it as if that’s the only song you know?

Why talk about it?

“It’s a destabilisation song and, besides, civil servants are not the cause of current malaise that has existed for over 20 years since ESAP days,” said the insider.

Worse still, could it be that Chinamasa’s love affair with the IMF was fast transitioning towards marriage?

“Chinamasa could be crafting an international CV for himself as it is suspected he wants to work for IMF/WB like other former finance ministers, and many people are convinced he is acting for himself,” said our source.

With the vultures clearly circling, Chinamasa had to give in last week and abandon retrenchment, sheepishly saying the problematic wage would be reduced by doing something the administration has not quite managed in some 20 years.

“It is my intention that we reduce the wage bill from 85 percent to 40 percent, this is a process and not an event,” he said.

“The steps that we are going to take to reduce the wage bill are that firstly, we must ensure that our economy grows.

“Once there is a growth in the economy, then our wages will be a very small proportion of the bigger cake, that is the other method.

“That is the line of thinking that we are using with a view to reduce the workers wage bill.”