Govt rallies civil servants to support Mnangagwa

GOVERNMENT yesterday rallied civil servants to support President Emmerson Mnangagwa's 2030 vision ahead of the 2023 elections as the ruling party goes all out to win the polls.

Speaking at the International Archives Day commemoration held at Harare Girls High yesterday, Information ministry chief director Jonathan Gandari said government employees were ruling party "servants".

"We have eight years left to achieve this national aspiration we all want," Gandari said.

"You may ask what's the function of the civil service in all this? In the words of Dr Vincent Hungwe who is the chairperson of the Public Service Commission, our role as civil servants or public employees is to locomotise, to make sure that the locomotive moves forward, make sure that the vision moves forward. In his words, he says civil servants, public servants locomotise the vision."

Mnangagwa's vision 2023 is to turn Zimbabwe into an upper-middle income economy.

His statements, however, follow growing concerns around the politicisation and abuse of civil servants to advance Zanu-PF political interests.

Critics and civic groups have documented evidence showing that the ruling party is among the leading abusers of civil servants as it seeks re-election ahead of general elections expected next year.

In an unrelated issue, Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage ministry secretary Aaron Nhepera, speaking at the same event, said government was moving to act swiftly with regards to electronic documents management.

"Efforts are underway to manage electronic documentation in the public sector using the Electronic Document Records Management System (EDRMS) and film digitisation. A hybrid system will ensure information accessibility and effective service delivery," he said.

"However, the activities of archivists and community involvement will ensure that archives will not disappear, but rather adapt to new ways of preserving them."