No salary cuts for university staff

The government has responded to the panic that had gripped national universities' staffers who were fearing a salaries cut was imminent after the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development slashed universities' grants by half in the 2017 national budget.

In his US$4,1 billion 2017 national budget which has since been passed by parliament, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa slashed universities' grants by half from around US$221 million to around US$125 million.

The move meant the government had cut its salary obligations to universities' staff by 50 percent, prompting the Staff Association of Zimbabwe State Universities to raise a red flag with the parent ministry, arguing that the unilateral cutting of salaries was an illegal move, according to the labour laws of the country.

ZBC New is reliably informed that the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), which has an arrangement with a local bank to deposit part of its staff's salaries, had responded by depositing only 55 percent of what they usually credit, provoking serious panic among the university staff who feared that the move had been implemented.

In a statement, the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Permanent Secretary, Ambassador Machivenyika Mapuranga highlighted that the ministry officials met with all state universities vice chancellors, where it was agreed that no decision has been made by government to reduce its obligation to meet its employment costs at state universities, meaning the salaries remain the same.

Ambassador Mapuranga said his ministry has since written to the treasury highlighting their disappointment on the unilateral decision made by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development in cutting down employment expenditure at state universities without basing it on facts as most of these institutions are owed in excess of US$7 million in unpaid areas by students from disadvantaged areas.

He said the ministry has since agreed to work with vice chancellors of state universities and the staff association in finding a lasting solution while salaries remain the same.