Mugabe urges civil servants to be patient

President Mugabe yesterday urged civil servants to be patient and be resilient in the wake of Government's delay to pay their salaries saying the challenge was temporary.

The Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces said this while addressing Zanu-PF supporters at Chipadze Stadium in Bindura last night after holding an all-day-long meeting with family members and followers of the Johane Masowe apostolic sect led by Madzibaba Wimbo at the Bindura University of Science Education before he eventually held another one with local Members of Parliament and traditional leaders.

President Mugabe said Zimbabwe was faced with an array of challenges that ranged from illegal sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union, drought, and as a result was using multi-currency system mainly the US dollar that it had little control over.

He said civil servants were complaining that they were not being paid on time and it was true. The President said at times payment of salaries was delayed by a week, in some cases by two weeks and in extreme cases workers went for two months without receiving salaries.

He said this was due to challenges facing the country as a result of sanctions imposed by the Western countries. Mugabe said sanctions imposed by the US were still in force while some European Union countries had removed some of the sanctions. He said the challenge facing the country was that it was using the US dollar which was printed in the US and therefore government had no control over it.

He said Government will strive to ensure that the problem of delays in salary payments was addressed but urged civil servants to be patient as the challenges did not mean that Zimbabwe was a poor country unable to meet its obligations. The President said the delay in paying salaries was a passing phase which did not warrant a strike by civil servants such as doctors, nurses and teachers.

The government workers, Mugabe said, should be patient as government was committed to ensuring that they were paid their salaries which at times could be delayed. He urged people to embrace bond notes that would soon be introduced and ignore claims by detractors that they were not legal tender. President Mugabe expressed gratitude for those civil servants who had returned to work but urged them to be vigilant against fly-by-night opposition parties that might want to lead them astray.

He said some opposition parties including Zimbabwe People First led by deposed former Vice President Dr Joice Mujuru held covert meetings in South Africa supported by whites in that country in their bid to form a coalition against Zanu-PF ahead of 2018 general elections. President Mugabe urged the people to be vigilant and guard against being misled by oppsotion parties bent on toppling the Zanu-PF led government.

He said there were now many opposition parties including the one led by Mujuru that wanted to unite and fight Zanu-PF. Mugabe said these opposition parties were holding meetings in South Africa where they were being assisted by whites to formulate strategies.

The President said government would soon expose the clandestine meetings being held in South Africa. Turning to the purpose of his visit in Mashonaland Central Province, President Mugabe warned senior security personnel against abusing their powers by sending their subordinates to harass members of the apostolic sect.

The warning followed reports that a Police Chief Superintendent was attacked by members of the sect at a shrine after he had visited the shrine with an aim to see his father but was accused of trespassing. During the attack, it is alleged gunshots were fired as a senior member of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces who is believed to be a member of the church enlisted the services of his subordinates to attack the senior police officer.

In his address, President Mugabe apologised for the incident and said he had set up a committee to investigate what transpired before reporting back to him. He however urged senior security force members to respect church members.

President Mugabe assured the people that Government would strive to provide food in the wake of drought, adding that no one would starve. Earlier on President Mugabe met families and members of the apostolic sect for more than three hours before convening another meeting with traditional leaders and Members of Parliament from the province.

The meetings went on until after dark. President Mugabe had to rush to Chipadze Stadium to address Zanu-PF supporters while it was dark as the party cadres waited patiently for him. Several Cabinet Ministers, service chiefs, senior Zanu-PF officials, local traditional leaders attended the meetings.