'Chinamasa inciting protests,' G40 claim as Zanu-PF war escalates

A Cabinet minister linked to a Zanu PF G40 faction has said Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa's massive civil servants jot cuts proposals are meant to incite people to rebel against Government.

Last week, Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa warned that government risk not paying workers at some point.

He proposed a massive 25 000 job cut which would have reduced the workforce to 273 000 by the end of 2017 and bonus freeze for two year.

However, in a dramatic u-turn Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Minister Christopher Mushohwe said Cabinet on July 12 rejected such drastic proposal.

According to the Zimbabwe Independent, a minister associated with G40 said Chinamasa's plan was "a sinister package of snake oil proposals meant to incite people to rise against the government."

"Before coming up with such recommendations, Chinamasa should have come up with better options which include early retirements rather than retrenching.

"He should have explored ways of ensuring there is a soft landing for those retrenched rather than throwing them onto the streets to join protestors. This is an attempt to fuel anti-government riots," the unnamed minister is quoted saying.