Zimbabwe owes diplomats $6,9 million

GOVERNMENT owes diplomats abroad about $6,9 million in salaries, rent payments and other costs and has also failed to pay school fees for children of these officers a situation that has resulted in them paying from their own resources, an official said yesterday.

Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Joe Bimha said his ministry owed diplomats $3,7 million while other ministries owed their officers abroad $3,2 million resulting in cumulative arrears of $6,9 million.

Mr Bimha said this while giving oral evidence before a parliamentary portfolio committee on Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade on the first quarter budget performance.

He said diplomats were owed about $1,7 million in salaries while $379 000 was outstanding on school fees.

Mr Bimha said during difficult times from 2007, they had encouraged their diplomats to enrol their children at local schools back home as that was not only cheaper but would not create a situation where they become strangers upon their return.

"After dollarisation we continued that practice because we could not get funds and we could not pay the fees on time," said Mr Bimha.

"What is now happening is that the officers are now paying school fees for their children from their salaries something which is not right, we owe a lot of money in fees."

The total budget allocation for the ministry for 2013 was $63,2 million which constituted nine percent more than last year's budget, he said.

Of that amount, $7,6 million was for Head office while $55,5 million was for diplomatic missions.

At the end of the first quarter of March 31 2013, Treasury released to Head office $687 000 against projected releases of $1,8 million while diplomatic missions totalled $8,5 million against an expected support of $12,8 million.

"The huge shortfall affected the procurement of critical goods and services for the smooth running of the Ministry. Worse still, the Ministry is saddled with an accumulated domestic debt amounting to $959 000 which include outstanding school fees of $379 000 for foreign service officers' children attending school in Zimbabwe carried over from last year," he said.

Treasury, he said, provided the Ministry with two tranches amounting to $8,5 million for mission reimbursement in January and February by March 31 2013.

"Due to liquidity constraints the releases from Treasury were late, causing disbursements to missions to run a month behind schedule. The situation has so far not changed," he said.

"The reimbursements during the period under review went towards payment of rentals, utilities and other routine mission running expenses."

In January, Zimbabwe opened a new embassy in Singapore, thereby increasing the country's diplomatic representation in the Far East.